APPLICATION
Jul. 21st, 2009 09:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
argentblazeThe PLAYER
Name: Kels
Personal DW:exitmouse
Contact: SAY MY NAME THREE TIMES INTO A MIRROR IN A DARK ROOM. (AscendedExtra @ Aim, exitmouse[at]gmail[dot]com for e-mail)
The CHARACTER
BASICS
Name: Tanwen Signy Volundr
Gender & Played-By: Female / Rachel Dashae
Age & Birthday: 16 / December 13th
Nationality: Norse on her father's side, Welsh on her mother's side. However she identifies as Norwegian and her home land was declared a Norwegian territory shortly before her birth.
Sexuality: Somewhere between a 1 and 2 on Kinsey. (Mostly heterosexual, but likes pretty and feminine girls more than is strictly socially acceptable.)
Physical Description: It wasn't until around this year that Tanwen started looking recognizably female - there had in the past been comments made about the five Volundr sons. Despite the general height and strong build of her family, Tanwen herself is rather small and slight. The better to take out your kneecaps, my dear. Much like her brothers aside from Svadilfari, she has the gait of a wild, half-starved animal. Cautious and dangerous, she sets off any signals for 'not safe'. She used to walk with a slouch but is now more straight-backed and aggressive, her hands tend to twitch when she's angry. Her robes are generally threadbare and torn with haphazard patching.
FAMILY DETAILS
Parent/s: David (father, Polnoch Alumni), Bethan (Mother, attended Hogwarts - Hufflepuff Alumni). The Volundr family was one of the tragic cases of "Pureblooded but poor". This didn't make them friendly or accepting, however, if anything they are closest to survivalists in nature. Bethan originally hailed from Wales (the Canada of Britian) from a decently middle-class family, meeting David directly after her graduation when she toured Europe with her friends. She became pregnant that year and was soon disowned by her family due to the reputation of David's and her unwillingness to leave him. Though times were hard, the two love each other deeply and have never looked back. They tend to want nothing to do with society except the understanding of the importance of school, if only because living on a remote island in an arctic sea means there is no time to teach children while just trying to live day to day. Most of the raising of the younger siblings was left as a job of the elder siblings. There should be no questions as to why they turned out like they did.
Siblings: Four Brothers, three older and one younger.
Agni (22, Male, Polnoch Alumni) - Possibly a sociopath, the one in charge of taking care of his siblings while their parents were struggling to just get by. Tanwen was his favorite sibling. Has and will murder for his family, and was a person to be feared and avoided during his time at Durmstrang. Very much the 'alpha' in that pack unit.
Sveinn (20, Male, Polnoch Alumni) - The brains of the operation. Clever and ruthless, tends to be the one to clean up Agni's messes. Hates everyone ever. He got very good grades at Durmstrang, but due to his social standing it's unlikely his brilliance will ever be put to use.
Svadilfari (17, Male, Morgen) - Soft spoken but no less courageous for it. Exceptionally compassionate, seeks to always ease the suffering of others whenever possible. No, no one has any clue how he came out of this family. They suspect switching at birth. Pack omega. He tends to only be noticed through association with his siblings and is content to sit in the background quietly, taking care of animals.
Fenrir (14, Male, Polnoch) - Could get away with murder. Blithely charming and charismatic. Utter card shark. Skilled pickpocket. Suffered from vitiligo when he was younger, and while his parents were able to get treatment to him before any detrimental effects set in, his skin has remained the patchwork two-tone.
Extended Family: N/A - Theoretically there is Bethan's side of the family but her children don't even know her maiden name as she has taken entirely to the Volundr family - and on that note the Volundrs tend to breed like rabbits, and die off just as quickly. If there are any relations they are distant enough to 'not count'.
SCHOOL-CENTRIC
Year: 6th
Path/House: Polnoch
Major: Dueling (Though her proficiency in the Dark Arts is nothing to shake a stick at)
Quidditch: Beater
Pet: None - she spooks animals, they tend not to like her.
Wand: Ebony, 10 inches, unyielding, Basilisk Tongue core
Patronus: An easily human-sized very feral-looking wolf - nobility the same as all of her siblings. There is a reason why they've been called the Volundr Pack.
Boggart: Agni in an angry mood. It should be noted that Sveinn, Svadilfari, and Fenrir all have the same Boggart.
Erised: Freedom in some form or another. A wide open road and nothing to hold her back from it.
PERSONALITY
Favorites: She has an embarrassing addiction to sugar, so anything sweet. Especially gum. She loves showers, baths, being clean was a privilege she seldom was able to have back home, so she tends to abuse it as much as possible while at school even if the water is freezing cold. She likes food. There is pretty much no food that you can put in front of Tanwen that she will not eat, having been raised in a situation where food was scarce. While she doesn't really like reading herself, she likes having others read to her. She likes running, jumping, climbing on trees - basically parkour before parkour is a thing.
Distastes: Tanwen has a big problem with people who act (or come across as acting) like they're better than everyone else. Not even just her - the super-achievers who memorize the whole book and act like that makes them more talented or skilled? She tends to get in fights with them more often than not. She doesn't like people that question her either, and we won't go into what happens when anyone hurts her family that isn't family.
Secrets, Strengths, & Weaknesses: The Volundr bloodline can trace itself back to the berserker warriors. This gives a certain ability for wandless magic. The downside is that magic is often violent and uncontrollable. When enraged her namesake becomes manifest - a white blaze of flame.
It should also be noted that the Volundr family has a reputation for inbreeding to keep the blood 'pure', one that isn't exactly unfounded. While nothing has 'happened', strictly speaking, anyone who looks at her and Agni's interaction can see that she is his favorite in a way that is creepily (and questionably) close. It kind of bothers Tanwen too, but she is currently not acknowledging it.
Detailed Personality: Tanwen is a product of her upbringing, sadly enough. She stands out in her classes as a violent menace to be gotten rid of as soon as possible. Some wild animal they let into the building that looks like a girl but doesn't bother to try to act like one, preferring to resort to fists than wands. Outside of the context of her family she's a violent psychopath. Inside the context of her family, she's par for course.
Being brought up in a situation where 'only the strong survive', Tanwen did everything to become strong. Strong for her was Agni. Show no fear, so now pity or remorse. Only give mercy to those that escape your eye that day. Tanwen has no fear of getting her hands dirty. she does what she has to do in the most efficient manner she can come up with and doesn't hesitate to go through with whatever awful deed that may be. Someone's gotta do it, may as well be the person who has already dammed themselves.
She has a certain... vague knowledge that what she does and how she acts is wrong. The last bit of morals that still hold out under all that learned behavior. Sometimes she does lay awake at night and wonder if she chose the wrong way to be, but she always falls back on the question of wondering what else there is for her? She could never be as nice as Svadilfari, nor would she want to damn herself in the eyes of her brothers like he has. She's far too dark for the light path, but a bit too light for the complete darkness most of her brothers have given in to.
The real driving force behind her darkness is her anger, her violence. Tanwen doesn't really know how to express herself except through physical means. She is a deeply passionate person for both good and ill. Fighting and battle is a more honest communication than words, as far as she's concerned. Tanwen is probably the best example of the reputation her brothers have that when it comes to the Volundrs, never disarm them in a duel - it just makes them more dangerous.
In the end, perhaps her 'brightest' trait is her loyalty. Unfailing, unwavering loyalty to her family. Blood means everything to the Volundr Pack. The only person who is allowed to hurt family is family, but they will protect each other from any outside force that seeks to bring them harm - through lethal means if needed. There is only one family member who doesn't have at least a little blood on their hands and it is not her. She doesn't question this for even a moment, even when she knows deep down that Agni has made a bad decision for them. He's still the one in charge, it was his decision to make, and she'll follow him to hell if that's what he asks.
Sometimes she dreams of escape - but that would be disloyal, and she has no idea where she would even go.
HISTORY
Character History: Generations ago, when the berserkers became outlawed in the Nordic lands, the Volundr family packed its bags and moved to the no man's land of Bear Island, between mainland Norway and the island of Svalbard. Because there was no regular muggle settlement it was perfect for a small wizarding family that wanted to truck with anyone's nonsense. Grandfather Volundr - David's father - was a hard man and impressed that upon his son, generations of Volundrs have attended Durmstrang with almost all of them in Polnoch house - it could even be said that the Volundrs are one of the more frightening pedigrees of it. David's mother passed away when he was young, his father the year he finished school. Him and Bethan married young for the same reasons anyone got married back then. 'You could provide well for my family, and I will give you lots of children'... Also Bethan was already pregnant. Bethan did give him many sons, and the two were even fond of each other. By the time Tanwen was born she had three older brothers looking out for her, them having gotten down the system of "Listen to Agni and he won't hurt us" down pat. They lived outside of both wizarding and muggle communities - David wanted nothing to do with either of them. Rubbish, all of it. Bugger the ministry, bugger the muggles, do what you will but leave the Volundr out of it. Where they could they lived off the land, where they couldn't, David and Bethan would go to the mainland for work for a few months. One of the purist bloodlines of the Nordic wizards and they were also one of the poorest in Europe.
Tanwen knew, logically, that there was fear of Agni in her siblings, but she never really saw reason why. He was very caring to her and gentle with her, and she worshiped the ground he walked on. Not that she had much chance to, whenever he could he was carrying her. One of the only lighthearted jokes the family ever made was that Tanwen didn't learn to walk until years late, for she had no need to with Angi around. Agni was by rights more of a parent to her than David and Bethan. She saw where the fear came from one summer when they were going into town to shop and she got hassled by some muggle men. Agni killed them without pause, leaving no witnesses aside from her and Sveinn. That alone was not shocking as things were different with outsiders, except when Sveinn criticized Agni for his actions and even raised his voice against the eldest sibling, Agni beat Sveinn within an inch of his life.
Tanwen still loved Agni, would still do anything for him, but she understood then his temper. She entered school that year in Durmstrang and got to witness more of Agni's reputation. It was nice, not being hassled by virtue of being his sibling. They were practically a family of mafioso without being Italian. You didn't mess with the Volundr, not even the outcast. Agni publicly ignored Svadilfari, and so Tanwen and Sveinn did as well (later passing that habit on to Fenrir). Unless of course someone saw fit to hassle him. When they found out - and they always found out, there would be blood. Tanwen would be lying if she tried to say she didn't enjoy that. Hunting down the fools that dared raise a hand against them, the thrill of the chase of running them down and hurting them as much as they could while not breaking school rules enough to get expelled, toeing the line just barely.
All good things must come to an end, however, and Agni and Sveinn have both graduated years ago. Tanwen has more than faithfully kept up the family reputation, taking up the power vacuum that Agni's absence left behind, and taking it up happily.
SAMPLES
First-Person: Why are we supposed to write in these? It's stupid. If I want to say something I'll say it. Writing in a diary is too much like talking to yourself, and I'm not that kind of crazy.
Third-Person: This sucked. Tanwen never cared for the first day of the new school year, though. All the first years filtering in, eyes all bright and scared. Good, they should be. She growled at one of the ones that lingered too long by her part of the table, prompting Fenrir to join in. The first year scuttled off quickly like a scared doe. She could feel Svadilfari's disapproving eyes on her from across the hall, but paid it no mind. Fenrir was laughing and so was she.
"Think Agni will wait for us at the docks this year when we come back for holiday?" Fenrir asked Tanwen, shuffling the deck of worn cards he always had on him. She smirked at her little brother's antics, stretching her arms up high. When she moved, the rest of the table did too, others scooting away from her just slightly to make sure she had room. No one challenging this year, good. Guess she'd made an impression last year - It's like prison, you just beat up the biggest guy on your first day.
"Haven't even started THIS term yet and you're already thinking of holiday?" she asked her brother, amusement lacing her voice. The two shared a grin. "You know he will be. By the way, suckers over at sunshine table, they've been watching you shuffle your cards since you pulled them out. Go make us some money for our trip to town."
Tanwen was thankful that Fenrir accepted her place as second in command to Agni when Agni wasn't around and just listened to her, scooting off the bench and making his way over to her other brother's table. She'd have had to enforce her rule if he didn't, and... quite honestly, she wasn't sure she had the stomach for it. Beating up outsiders was one thing - they were strangers, and she held no loyalty to them - but beating up family was another matter entirely.
Not that Fenrir or Svadilfari knew that. With any luck, they'd never have to.
Name: Kels
Personal DW:
exitmouseContact: SAY MY NAME THREE TIMES INTO A MIRROR IN A DARK ROOM. (AscendedExtra @ Aim, exitmouse[at]gmail[dot]com for e-mail)
The CHARACTER
BASICS
Name: Tanwen Signy Volundr
Gender & Played-By: Female / Rachel Dashae
Age & Birthday: 16 / December 13th
Nationality: Norse on her father's side, Welsh on her mother's side. However she identifies as Norwegian and her home land was declared a Norwegian territory shortly before her birth.
Sexuality: Somewhere between a 1 and 2 on Kinsey. (Mostly heterosexual, but likes pretty and feminine girls more than is strictly socially acceptable.)
Physical Description: It wasn't until around this year that Tanwen started looking recognizably female - there had in the past been comments made about the five Volundr sons. Despite the general height and strong build of her family, Tanwen herself is rather small and slight. The better to take out your kneecaps, my dear. Much like her brothers aside from Svadilfari, she has the gait of a wild, half-starved animal. Cautious and dangerous, she sets off any signals for 'not safe'. She used to walk with a slouch but is now more straight-backed and aggressive, her hands tend to twitch when she's angry. Her robes are generally threadbare and torn with haphazard patching.
FAMILY DETAILS
Parent/s: David (father, Polnoch Alumni), Bethan (Mother, attended Hogwarts - Hufflepuff Alumni). The Volundr family was one of the tragic cases of "Pureblooded but poor". This didn't make them friendly or accepting, however, if anything they are closest to survivalists in nature. Bethan originally hailed from Wales (the Canada of Britian) from a decently middle-class family, meeting David directly after her graduation when she toured Europe with her friends. She became pregnant that year and was soon disowned by her family due to the reputation of David's and her unwillingness to leave him. Though times were hard, the two love each other deeply and have never looked back. They tend to want nothing to do with society except the understanding of the importance of school, if only because living on a remote island in an arctic sea means there is no time to teach children while just trying to live day to day. Most of the raising of the younger siblings was left as a job of the elder siblings. There should be no questions as to why they turned out like they did.
Siblings: Four Brothers, three older and one younger.
Agni (22, Male, Polnoch Alumni) - Possibly a sociopath, the one in charge of taking care of his siblings while their parents were struggling to just get by. Tanwen was his favorite sibling. Has and will murder for his family, and was a person to be feared and avoided during his time at Durmstrang. Very much the 'alpha' in that pack unit.
Sveinn (20, Male, Polnoch Alumni) - The brains of the operation. Clever and ruthless, tends to be the one to clean up Agni's messes. Hates everyone ever. He got very good grades at Durmstrang, but due to his social standing it's unlikely his brilliance will ever be put to use.
Svadilfari (17, Male, Morgen) - Soft spoken but no less courageous for it. Exceptionally compassionate, seeks to always ease the suffering of others whenever possible. No, no one has any clue how he came out of this family. They suspect switching at birth. Pack omega. He tends to only be noticed through association with his siblings and is content to sit in the background quietly, taking care of animals.
Fenrir (14, Male, Polnoch) - Could get away with murder. Blithely charming and charismatic. Utter card shark. Skilled pickpocket. Suffered from vitiligo when he was younger, and while his parents were able to get treatment to him before any detrimental effects set in, his skin has remained the patchwork two-tone.
Extended Family: N/A - Theoretically there is Bethan's side of the family but her children don't even know her maiden name as she has taken entirely to the Volundr family - and on that note the Volundrs tend to breed like rabbits, and die off just as quickly. If there are any relations they are distant enough to 'not count'.
SCHOOL-CENTRIC
Year: 6th
Path/House: Polnoch
Major: Dueling (Though her proficiency in the Dark Arts is nothing to shake a stick at)
Quidditch: Beater
Pet: None - she spooks animals, they tend not to like her.
Wand: Ebony, 10 inches, unyielding, Basilisk Tongue core
Patronus: An easily human-sized very feral-looking wolf - nobility the same as all of her siblings. There is a reason why they've been called the Volundr Pack.
Boggart: Agni in an angry mood. It should be noted that Sveinn, Svadilfari, and Fenrir all have the same Boggart.
Erised: Freedom in some form or another. A wide open road and nothing to hold her back from it.
PERSONALITY
Favorites: She has an embarrassing addiction to sugar, so anything sweet. Especially gum. She loves showers, baths, being clean was a privilege she seldom was able to have back home, so she tends to abuse it as much as possible while at school even if the water is freezing cold. She likes food. There is pretty much no food that you can put in front of Tanwen that she will not eat, having been raised in a situation where food was scarce. While she doesn't really like reading herself, she likes having others read to her. She likes running, jumping, climbing on trees - basically parkour before parkour is a thing.
Distastes: Tanwen has a big problem with people who act (or come across as acting) like they're better than everyone else. Not even just her - the super-achievers who memorize the whole book and act like that makes them more talented or skilled? She tends to get in fights with them more often than not. She doesn't like people that question her either, and we won't go into what happens when anyone hurts her family that isn't family.
Secrets, Strengths, & Weaknesses: The Volundr bloodline can trace itself back to the berserker warriors. This gives a certain ability for wandless magic. The downside is that magic is often violent and uncontrollable. When enraged her namesake becomes manifest - a white blaze of flame.
It should also be noted that the Volundr family has a reputation for inbreeding to keep the blood 'pure', one that isn't exactly unfounded. While nothing has 'happened', strictly speaking, anyone who looks at her and Agni's interaction can see that she is his favorite in a way that is creepily (and questionably) close. It kind of bothers Tanwen too, but she is currently not acknowledging it.
Detailed Personality: Tanwen is a product of her upbringing, sadly enough. She stands out in her classes as a violent menace to be gotten rid of as soon as possible. Some wild animal they let into the building that looks like a girl but doesn't bother to try to act like one, preferring to resort to fists than wands. Outside of the context of her family she's a violent psychopath. Inside the context of her family, she's par for course.
Being brought up in a situation where 'only the strong survive', Tanwen did everything to become strong. Strong for her was Agni. Show no fear, so now pity or remorse. Only give mercy to those that escape your eye that day. Tanwen has no fear of getting her hands dirty. she does what she has to do in the most efficient manner she can come up with and doesn't hesitate to go through with whatever awful deed that may be. Someone's gotta do it, may as well be the person who has already dammed themselves.
She has a certain... vague knowledge that what she does and how she acts is wrong. The last bit of morals that still hold out under all that learned behavior. Sometimes she does lay awake at night and wonder if she chose the wrong way to be, but she always falls back on the question of wondering what else there is for her? She could never be as nice as Svadilfari, nor would she want to damn herself in the eyes of her brothers like he has. She's far too dark for the light path, but a bit too light for the complete darkness most of her brothers have given in to.
The real driving force behind her darkness is her anger, her violence. Tanwen doesn't really know how to express herself except through physical means. She is a deeply passionate person for both good and ill. Fighting and battle is a more honest communication than words, as far as she's concerned. Tanwen is probably the best example of the reputation her brothers have that when it comes to the Volundrs, never disarm them in a duel - it just makes them more dangerous.
In the end, perhaps her 'brightest' trait is her loyalty. Unfailing, unwavering loyalty to her family. Blood means everything to the Volundr Pack. The only person who is allowed to hurt family is family, but they will protect each other from any outside force that seeks to bring them harm - through lethal means if needed. There is only one family member who doesn't have at least a little blood on their hands and it is not her. She doesn't question this for even a moment, even when she knows deep down that Agni has made a bad decision for them. He's still the one in charge, it was his decision to make, and she'll follow him to hell if that's what he asks.
Sometimes she dreams of escape - but that would be disloyal, and she has no idea where she would even go.
HISTORY
Character History: Generations ago, when the berserkers became outlawed in the Nordic lands, the Volundr family packed its bags and moved to the no man's land of Bear Island, between mainland Norway and the island of Svalbard. Because there was no regular muggle settlement it was perfect for a small wizarding family that wanted to truck with anyone's nonsense. Grandfather Volundr - David's father - was a hard man and impressed that upon his son, generations of Volundrs have attended Durmstrang with almost all of them in Polnoch house - it could even be said that the Volundrs are one of the more frightening pedigrees of it. David's mother passed away when he was young, his father the year he finished school. Him and Bethan married young for the same reasons anyone got married back then. 'You could provide well for my family, and I will give you lots of children'... Also Bethan was already pregnant. Bethan did give him many sons, and the two were even fond of each other. By the time Tanwen was born she had three older brothers looking out for her, them having gotten down the system of "Listen to Agni and he won't hurt us" down pat. They lived outside of both wizarding and muggle communities - David wanted nothing to do with either of them. Rubbish, all of it. Bugger the ministry, bugger the muggles, do what you will but leave the Volundr out of it. Where they could they lived off the land, where they couldn't, David and Bethan would go to the mainland for work for a few months. One of the purist bloodlines of the Nordic wizards and they were also one of the poorest in Europe.
Tanwen knew, logically, that there was fear of Agni in her siblings, but she never really saw reason why. He was very caring to her and gentle with her, and she worshiped the ground he walked on. Not that she had much chance to, whenever he could he was carrying her. One of the only lighthearted jokes the family ever made was that Tanwen didn't learn to walk until years late, for she had no need to with Angi around. Agni was by rights more of a parent to her than David and Bethan. She saw where the fear came from one summer when they were going into town to shop and she got hassled by some muggle men. Agni killed them without pause, leaving no witnesses aside from her and Sveinn. That alone was not shocking as things were different with outsiders, except when Sveinn criticized Agni for his actions and even raised his voice against the eldest sibling, Agni beat Sveinn within an inch of his life.
Tanwen still loved Agni, would still do anything for him, but she understood then his temper. She entered school that year in Durmstrang and got to witness more of Agni's reputation. It was nice, not being hassled by virtue of being his sibling. They were practically a family of mafioso without being Italian. You didn't mess with the Volundr, not even the outcast. Agni publicly ignored Svadilfari, and so Tanwen and Sveinn did as well (later passing that habit on to Fenrir). Unless of course someone saw fit to hassle him. When they found out - and they always found out, there would be blood. Tanwen would be lying if she tried to say she didn't enjoy that. Hunting down the fools that dared raise a hand against them, the thrill of the chase of running them down and hurting them as much as they could while not breaking school rules enough to get expelled, toeing the line just barely.
All good things must come to an end, however, and Agni and Sveinn have both graduated years ago. Tanwen has more than faithfully kept up the family reputation, taking up the power vacuum that Agni's absence left behind, and taking it up happily.
SAMPLES
First-Person: Why are we supposed to write in these? It's stupid. If I want to say something I'll say it. Writing in a diary is too much like talking to yourself, and I'm not that kind of crazy.
Third-Person: This sucked. Tanwen never cared for the first day of the new school year, though. All the first years filtering in, eyes all bright and scared. Good, they should be. She growled at one of the ones that lingered too long by her part of the table, prompting Fenrir to join in. The first year scuttled off quickly like a scared doe. She could feel Svadilfari's disapproving eyes on her from across the hall, but paid it no mind. Fenrir was laughing and so was she.
"Think Agni will wait for us at the docks this year when we come back for holiday?" Fenrir asked Tanwen, shuffling the deck of worn cards he always had on him. She smirked at her little brother's antics, stretching her arms up high. When she moved, the rest of the table did too, others scooting away from her just slightly to make sure she had room. No one challenging this year, good. Guess she'd made an impression last year - It's like prison, you just beat up the biggest guy on your first day.
"Haven't even started THIS term yet and you're already thinking of holiday?" she asked her brother, amusement lacing her voice. The two shared a grin. "You know he will be. By the way, suckers over at sunshine table, they've been watching you shuffle your cards since you pulled them out. Go make us some money for our trip to town."
Tanwen was thankful that Fenrir accepted her place as second in command to Agni when Agni wasn't around and just listened to her, scooting off the bench and making his way over to her other brother's table. She'd have had to enforce her rule if he didn't, and... quite honestly, she wasn't sure she had the stomach for it. Beating up outsiders was one thing - they were strangers, and she held no loyalty to them - but beating up family was another matter entirely.
Not that Fenrir or Svadilfari knew that. With any luck, they'd never have to.
