| Author |
Message
|
| Masha Eilde |
 Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2007 9:53 pm Post subject: Masha Eilde: Vodouissant (updated 07/18/2008) |
 |
|
Joined: 14 Jul 2007
Posts: 357
|
((Updated snarfing the format used by others in this forum! And, urm, it got kinda long.))
Race: Human
Nationality: American
Sexuality: Heterosexual, monogamous
Status: Single
Age:18
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 125
Style: Casual, with a Cajun flair
Languages:English and Kreyol
Weapons: None, although she does have a baseball bat for dire emergencies
Strengths: Calm in an emergency, intuitive and empathic, a rock solid faith in her God, the Lwa and all the principals and powers of Vodou, a broad interpretation of sapience and acceptance of all kinds of cultures, beliefs, and lifestyles, the belief that it is imperative to treat every new person with respect, cordiality and friendliness and assume they offer good will unless they prove otherwise.
Weaknesses: Some of her strengths are also weaknesses: her faith makes her vulnerable to the black uses of Vodou, her friendliness to strangers might be misinterpreted, her empathy and intuition may give her insight into things people like to keep hidden. More generally, she is "hounsi bossale". If or until she is formally given Kanzo as a Vodou initiate, she is vulnerable to possession not only by her mait tet, Erzulie Freda Dahomey, but other Lwa as well. Drums coupled with dance, particularly if there's a "break" in the music, or things that speak strongly of a particular lwa, could make her a horse for one of them.
Background:
Masha's grandmother, Angelique Delacourt, came to New Orleans from Haiti as a young woman, a fully initiated manbo in the religion of Vodou. She established her own peristyle in New Orleans and went on to marry and have children.
Her daughter, Masha's mother Brigitte, not content with the syncretized saints and rituals sprinkled within modern Vodoun, rebelled and fully embraced the Catholic church. She met and had a wild romance with a jazz musician of the French Quarter, and Masha was conceived. Of her father, Masha only knows that he was a musician and that he left before she was born. Brigitte would not speak of it.
Masha was raised as a Catholic until her mother died when she was eight, when she was hit by an out of control Mustang during Mardi Gras. The driver ran and was never caught.
She then went to live with her grandmere. Masha has never received Kanzo, the Vodou initiation, primarily because when her grandmother read her head to discover her primary lwa (Erzulie Freda Dahomey, or Ezili in Kreyol), she made an undisclosed decision to keep her as hounsi bossale, or "wild" until such time as she deemed her ready for full training. Grandmere also encouraged Masha to continue with the Catholic church as well as her duties as seveteur in the peristyle.
At the age of 18, a bocor beset her grandmere and her entire House, and Masha was sent off to with the son of a trusted houngon ally of her grandmother's. The son, however, led her astray and instead of taking her to safety, brought her to Midian and dumped her there. Oddly, he wasn't so ruthless as to steal her things, and even more oddly, he tossed after her a large trunk of supplies.
Current story lines for public consumption:
Masha knows how to serve and support the rites of both the Church and the Honfour. She speaks Kreyol, and it's lilt colors her speach. She has naturally gravitated towards the Cathedral in town and managed to stash a decent store of cured meats, canned goods and dry goods which she had found in the trunk. She's been staying there, and sharing this food with those she meets and isn't quite sure yet what she's meant to do or find in Midian.
To date, she has met Father Asher and Auntie, the woman who runs the community center which fills her need to help people and steer them towards safety and shelter. She found employment, hired by the neko Dui to work the sushi counter and has very much enjoyed cooking again. She's been trying to put out word that she'd like to operate as a Courier in Midian, delivering packages or letters or what have you for various factions in town. As of yet, there have been no bites in that regard.
She has constructed a shrine to Ezili along the back wall of the Cathedral, and plans to erect a shrine honoring Bawon Samedi and the Ghede Nimbo across the divide in the cemetary (Erzulie and the Bawon never touch). She has also, despite her lack of initiation, performed a full Vodou cemetary in the mark near the ocean beach, using a particular tree as poto mitan.
Among the items she found packed in the trunk were the full regalia of a honfour and manbo: asson, machete, drapo of the lwa, and the flag of the House. Masha took up the asson because she felt driven to concecrate some ground as a peristyle in order to guard and keep safe something else she brought with her from New Orleans. She buried this item deep beneath the newly blessed poto mitan and set up gris gris and wanga around it and among the branches, as well as a full shrine to all the Mystere at its base. As far as she knows, there were no witnesses to this rite.
She did, however, wind up being horsed by Erzuli, as full Vodou ritual is not meant to be done alone. Erzuli wandered Midian seeking the male attention she desires and expects, and finding none, danced her horse into exhaustion on the platform opposite the Twilight Zone. Masha was found by a man with red eyes and metal hands called Devon and she feels indebted to him for bringing her to the med center.
Likes: Sweet rum, cooking, music (she is an accomplished flautist), gardening (she has several pots of herb seedlings growing at the moment).
Dislikes: Disrespectful or rude behavior, particularly to those she honors, desecration or what she thinks of as holy, people who abuse trust.
Objectives in RP: At present, to work as a Courier between factions and to continue to develop the relationships she has started to form.
Last edited by Masha Eilde on Fri Jul 18, 2008 6:41 pm; edited 2 times in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
| Masha Eilde |
| Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:25 pm Post subject: Masha, becoming... (part 1) |
|
|
Joined: 14 Jul 2007
Posts: 357
|
Two months later.
Masha's become resigned to the reality of living in Midian. She makes daily vid calls to the numbers she has in New Orleans, but no one ever picks up.
Masha has been feeling more and more alone as her isolation in her faith has become increasingly apparent. For much of her life she was surrounded by the honfour. It was more than a temple, it was her community, her family. Vodou is not meant to be celebrated alone, and nothing reinforced that truth more than when Masha walked among Midian horsed by Papa Ghede Nimbo, the lwa of sex and death. She came to herself to find that a knife had been thrown into her thigh and she had nearly died from blood loss, and someone had taken Papa's top hat and glasses, things of power. The items were returned, she healed, but Masha's heart ached as it came home that the lwa were not to be honored or treated with respect in Midian.
She took to a daily routine of service. The park, where two paths meet, draw a veve, light a candle, sing to Papa Atibon Legba who opens the way, offer him rum and tobacco, then move on. To the side of the cathedral for her met tet, Erzulie Freda Dahomey, draw a veve, light a candle, sing her song of love and passion, offer her wine and rose petals, and move on. To the graveyard, and Papa Ghede Nimbo, the laughing clown, the corpse, draw a veve, light a candle, sing his dancing song, offer tobacco and white bone meal and chocolate, then move on. To the seashore and La Sirene, the wonder of the ocean, draw a veve, light a candle, play her sweet song on the flute, offer cowrie shells, and move on.
So it went. The sushi counter was bought by a kind but distracted Japanese woman and Masha was grateful that she was allowed to keep her job. She met other citizens, tried to help in the Med Center, offered fruitless ideas to the Forgotten, and held a new hope of building an orphanage/school when offered the idea by a kind lady called Sol. Father Asher seemed to disappear and Masha remained to be the sole person found within the church walls, offering her prayers to the good god Bonje, longing for New Orleans and the vividness of the peristyle.
Last edited by Masha Eilde on Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:36 pm; edited 2 times in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Masha Eilde |
| Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:26 pm Post subject: Masha, becoming... (part 2) |
|
|
Joined: 14 Jul 2007
Posts: 357
|
Three nights ago.
Masha sat before the veve of Atibon Legba in the park, praying for him to the open the way. A chuffing sound made her look up and she smiled, spotting a bright, amber eyed dog with a big bushy tail, watching her alertly from the swingset. She held out her hand, hoping he'd come closer, her fingers itching to pet those silky looking ears. The dog approached and Masha saw that this was no dog but a coyote. She froze in place as he came right up the veve, knocking over the shot of rum and lapping it, snuffling at the sprinkled tobacco. Masha was just getting ready to slowly back away when the coyote turned and with a quick lunge, bit down hard on her hand. She cried out and he let go, and Masha swore he was grinning as he loped away.
Masha wrapped her sweater around her bleeding hand and took herself to the MC, finding it empty. With her recent practice at first aid and emergency medicines, she felt competant to treat it herself, and so she did, cleaning it out, smearing antibiotic ointment over it, and wrapping it up good and tight. She shook her head. Who knew that coyotes liked rum? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Masha Eilde |
| Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:27 pm Post subject: Masha, becoming... (part 3) |
|
|
Joined: 14 Jul 2007
Posts: 357
|
Last night.
She felt odd, drifty, but it was pleasant so she decided not to worry. There was the sound of celebration coming from the Snake Pit and Masha quietly entered, thinking it might be nice to have a small rum. She let her thoughts wander, the crowd noises and the fighting noises of the irrepressible Hounds outside blending into a sort of music and suddenly realized she was at the bar, drinking down a whiskey. Whiskey! She rose, then headed out, intending to begin her nightly rituals, starting with Papa Legba as always.
By the park, and Masha found herself arrested by a beguiling smell and just paused to enjoy, leaning on the stone wall there. A lady with blonde hair came up and they got to chatting. Deets Carroll was her name and such a fascinating life she'd led - bodyguard and courier, and Masha thought wryly of her early hopes of being just such a messenger upon her arrival in Midian. Best of all, Deets had been to Haiti and new of Vodou, of the Loa and Masha realized just how much she'd missed speaking of such things with another.
Deets asked about her hand and Masha laughed, realizing she'd almost forgotten and hadn't even changed the dressings, telling the story to her new friend.
Then pain, splitting open her skull, sudden and intense, and just as suddenly vanishing. Masha found herself huddled on the ground her arms clutching her head with Deets crouching beside her, staring at her with astonishment, astounded by the Masha's new furry ears and golden eyes. Taking charge, Deets took Masha to the medical center in Apocalypse where the Hounds were once again showing their passion for the fight. The doctor seemed distracted so they went into the exam room where Masha got a look in the reflection of the paper towel dispenser.
Yes, ears and eyes like a coyote. Masha was surprised how calm she felt and she and Deets wondered if she was going to start howling and slavering when a horrible pain hit the base of Masha's spine. She sat down hard, pressing with all her might with both hands, when her palms started to burn as well. Like before the pain came with a vengeance and left just as suddenly, leaving Masha astounded to discover paw pads and thickened nails and that she'd grown a big bushy brown tail.
The doctor, finally free, told her it didn't seem likely she'd be changing any further and opined that strange things happen in Midian so who was he to say? In some place between shock and astonishment, Masha and Deets headed off for a restorative drink at the Body Shop, where eventually they succumbed to the biggest laughing fit of her entire life.
Masha learned that she could drink prodigious amounts of whiskey and barely feel it, that tobacco now smelled sweeter than the deepest chocolate, and that she had a new friend. As to what was to happen next, she had no idea.
Last edited by Masha Eilde on Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:39 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Masha Eilde |
| Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:27 pm Post subject: Masha the Nuwisha (updated sheet) |
|
|
Joined: 14 Jul 2007
Posts: 357
|
Posted here are the changes from the original character sheet above
Race: Nuwisha (or whatever you call a coyote version of a neko?)
Weapons: A dagger
Strengths: Above, plus: increased stamina, endurance and constitution. Masha can eat and drink pretty darn near anything now and take lots of damage as well as a increased rate of recovery/healing. Her night vision is improved, colors are less vivid, and her sense of smell is astounding. Her strength is still human normal, her dexterity perhaps a bit better but nothing superhuman.
Weaknesses: Above plus: along with the physical characteristics, Masha now has the parts of her own personality that align with the traditional Coyote the Trickster emphasized. She more daring, her cautionary nature is much diminished, and she's given to wandering where ever her feet take her, regardless. She is much more likely to fast talk her way into and out of situations, providing she lives that long. Talking will always be her first options, fighting last.
Background:
See above posts for her transition story.
Current story lines for public consumption:
Works at the sushi counter, hopes to open an orphanage/school with Sol and Angel, dreams of hearing from her grandmere and being assured of her safety.
Likes: Whiskey, especially Jack Daniels, but any will do. Tobacco. Food, really, of any kind. Games of chance, although she doesn't know it yet and hasn't the first clue how to gamble.
Dislikes: As above, and she's really hoping she won't get the urge to chase nekos up trees.
Objectives in RP: Masha wants to speak with others about Midian who possess animal traits and see if can't find out just what happened to her and where it is going. She knows several nekos, and has seen men with ears like wolves lurking about in Apocalypse. Perhaps they might know more? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| October Hush |
| Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:37 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Joined: 20 Mar 2007
Posts: 719
Location: Rooftops, Catwalks and Streets in Midian City
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Masha Eilde |
| Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:43 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Joined: 14 Jul 2007
Posts: 357
|
Whee!
Last night was just a blast. I figured I'd RP her change gradually by herself but meeting Deets was just perfect.
I'll be around tonight later, then Friday hubby and I are off to ConQuest for four days. LARPs! CON! Woot!
Cheers!
-M |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Deets Carroll |
| Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 2:19 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Joined: 29 Aug 2007
Posts: 281
Location: According to this map, I'm over there somewhere.
|
I agree -- Masha's transformation was a lot of fun! And Deets is very happy to have made a new friend  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Masha Eilde |
| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 4:03 am Post subject: Manbo |
|
|
Joined: 14 Jul 2007
Posts: 357
|
"Finally..." Masha breathes as the sluggish elevator doors open to the ninth floor of the Apocalypse apartments and she adjusts her pack for what she hopes is the final time, heading almost blindly towards number 96. Her thoughts are focused entirely on bed, but even her weariness can't still the whirl of images from the past two weeks.
The laughing black faces, the lilt of Haiti and the drawl of New Orleans. The ancient rhythms of the rada drums and the hypnotic hours and hours of dancing in celebration after her kanzo was finally complete. The sheer humility and joy she felt as she was awarded the asson and then the startling news from Grandmere:
"Child, you let me see that head of yours, eh? Come on now, kneel down and let me wash."
Masha submitted to the familiar ritual of lave tet, her grandmother's calloused fingers moving through her braided hair as she knelt before her, head bowed. Closing her eyes, she soaked in the sense of family and belonging, even more vital than the relentless heat of the Port a Prince sun. The water sluiced over her head and she shivered.
"Well, child, you gone and done it. Not only picked up a tail and those yella eyes, you got two more mait tet. Still Ezili Freda, yeah, but now, her sister and foe, Ezili Danto and the old man Atibon Legba. He just standin' there between those women, leanin' on his crooked stick with a smile as big as you please on that wrinkled face. You in for some wild rides, cher. Wild rides."
Masha remained still, taking this in, Grandmere's fingers still soothing through her braids as she alternated between massaging her scalp and sluicing her head with the herb infused waters.
"You got the asson now, so you hear me, child. Legba, he gonna keep the peace between these two, Danto and Freda, and it a good thing or we'd have to have words, eh? Now I don' know where this coyote comes from and maybe that old man, he play a trick on you, just like you think. But it a good one and it gonna protect you in ways you don' know 'bout yet."
A towel was laid across Masha's head and she lifted her gaze as Grandmere expertly tied it in place, studying the beloved features looking down at her. Like carved dark wood, lined with experience, full lips and fuller cheeks and eyes a snapping black filled with power and intense clarity. She could still dance with the best of them and when the lwa rode Grandmere, well, half the honfour fell and were ridden in her wake. Without her, the bokor would still rule in the French Quarter and half of the folk there would have their souls at his mercy.
"Child, you gotta go back to this black island. It's touched you, yeah? These women you hooked up with, they gonna be your strength, your honfour without a peristyle. It's a painful way you got, cher, a manbo with no serviteurs, no hounsis, no drums and a pitiful lack of respect for the good god. But you got called and I done my best to teach you what I know."
Grandmere leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Masha's forehead and she closed her eyes, a thousand memories of Grandmere kissing her the same way flying through her mind. She thought about the journals and books waiting by her pack, hand copied by Grandmere and given to her now to take back to Midian. Healing ways and harmful ways, magics for binding, for freeing, for blessing, for cursing. And a blank book for her to write her own regelman as she forged a new way to walk the paths of Vodou, in a place where things were never what they seemed.
Grandmere held out her hands and Masha took them, allowing the old woman to pull her up, the strength obvious in those corded arms. She met those eyes, so like her own save where the coyote had changed her, and felt a wave of complicated emotion wash over her, sluicing like the waters of the lave tet. Relief that her family and honfour were safe in Port a Prince. Fear that she would never see any of them again. Excitement at the opportunity to forge a new way to honor the lwa and hope that she might be able to make changes for the better. Worry and care for the Sarcina and anticipation at seeing them and others who she'd come to care for again.
Masha shakes her head, sending her braids flying as that same mix of emotions pours over her now, despite her exhaustion. She bumps the door closed behind her with her hip then locks it and plops the heavy pack on the nearest sofa before falling with a huge sigh onto the bed, fully clothed.
She is asleep before her head hits the pillow.
_________________
Masha's Diary
Masha's Flickr stream |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Deets Carroll |
| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 3:04 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Joined: 29 Aug 2007
Posts: 281
Location: According to this map, I'm over there somewhere.
|
| A beautiful piece of writing, welcome back! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| October Hush |
| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 7:57 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Joined: 20 Mar 2007
Posts: 719
Location: Rooftops, Catwalks and Streets in Midian City
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Masha Eilde |
| Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 7:08 pm Post subject: Masha the Coyote |
|
|
Joined: 14 Jul 2007
Posts: 357
|
Posted here are the changes to the update on 08/2007:
Race: Coyote-hybrid
Weapons: Daggers x2, .38 "snubby" left hip, occasional "Shotbow" on back, occasional long bow on back. NOTE: VERY new to firing guns, 6 months experience firing a bow.
Strengths: Above, with the following clarifications:
Senses: Masha's primary sense is scent, followed closely by sight, then sound and the rest. She's had over a year to adapt to her new form and while her "scent library" will never be that of someone born as a canine-hybrid, it's substantially improved. She's gotten fairly adept at tracking by scent, but is purely intuitive about it, not using any formally trained techniques.
Agility/defense: Still not neko standard, but Masha's precision and ability to understand the needs of defense and avoidance in a violent situation has improved based on experience over the past year.
Feral combat: Masha was exposed to a virus (courtesy of UAC) that triggered a state of what many call "feral" coyote. She was given the antidote, but since then has been able to call upon the characteristics and qualities of her coyote DNA under stressful situations. Her stats remain the same - still human normal strength, better than normal dex (less than neko), very high constitution/fortitude.
Professions: Masha set about studying to be a medical doctor and has advanced substantially in her studies. Starting with a grounding in Vodou herbal doctor practice, she took to it with a will and has been exposed to more trauma cases as an MCMC resident than most interns see in a lifetime of medical practice. She is conscientious, careful and scrupulous with her patients. She also works maintaining the Park and caring for the endangered species within.
Things that require IM/discussion/consent to figure out (note, all of these things have a work around and are not engraved in stone):
Toxins/drugs: Masha set about getting drunk for real and discovered that after about 7-8 bottles of whiskey, she had a buzz on. After that, each bottle is like downing a shot. In terms of toxins and poisons, she hasn't had much opportunity to experiment, but she is naturally quite resistant if not immune to much of what is out there. Toxins like tear gas that target mucus membranes affect her just like anyone else, and if she is physical debilitated (such as suffering from physical wounds) drugs like morphine or similar will have effect. IM for clarifications/details.
True faith/Possession: Masha is a devout Vodouissant and now a manbo. She holds something called a Gad as a result of a ritual she performed, a living spoke of one of the lwa, Papa Legba, residing in her belly. He is the protector of entries and exits and guards her against unwanted intrusion of the mind. (NOTE: NOT created to target vamps - she had another experience altogether which led to this ritual). IM for clarification/details.
Under extreme duress, Masha might become "horse" to one of the lwa. Depending on who shows up, this can leads to interesting behaviors. It does NOT change her stats. It CAN change her reaction to things like pain or her willingness to fight, even to the point of tearing her own connective tissue. IM for clarification/details.
Weaknesses: Above plus: Masha left the Sarcina and works for the Park now which gives her a much more widely woven network of support if she allows her curiosity to get her into trouble. She's gained in confidence and therefore is more willing to speak up and even allow her normally cool temper to rise if she witnesses an event she finds untenable. She has developed a very real and deep aversion to forced captivity and can overreact if she perceives it about her.
Background:
See above posts for her transition story.
Current story lines for public consumption:
Masha is a manbo now within her faith and lives in a brownstone overlooking the Park where she works. She is a Resident MD at the MCMC and very involved with the Parish folks with who she feels a special connection. She maintains a wide and varied circle of people she calls friends, some of them nice folks, others rather odd or even dangerous.
Likes: As above, plus gardening and growing Vodou herbs has become a passion of hers.
Dislikes: As above, plus enslavement.
Objectives in RP: Masha's first goals these days are to maintain her faith as best she can in the isolation of Midian, and to nurture her network of family/friends which includes doing what she must to support and protect them. She longs for a real judicial system in Midian but knows that will never happen, no matter how much she wishes for some form of people-based justice.
_________________
Masha's Diary
Masha's Flickr stream |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Atmlady Alcott |
| Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 2:15 am Post subject: |
|
|
Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Posts: 739
Location: Not in Pleasentville. It's just not nice there anymore.
|
Needless to say, I always LOVE your character descriptions and especially the way you are so true to them in RP.
YES, I will join you in the fight for "justice".
Masha is indeed an Auntie "fave". 
_________________
"YES, I KNOW your life is full of "DRAMA", but sometimes you just have to put on your big girl panties and deal with things" |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
