Times have changed, and with those changes, changes have happened to this doe as well. With a sudden blessing of magic, or perhaps a god, or something else entirely, Cally's original form has been gifted back to her. And it's a stark change.
Upon the first moment standing, the doe is a little unstable upon her cloven hooves, suddenly taller than she remembers, but not unfamiliar. Shooting up from 10 hands to 14.2 hands is shocking enough, but it's not the first time she's been this height. Limbs shake, unfamiliar with the change of weight, of design, and walking to a small stream, she'd be shocked by what she sees.
A mix breed, Irish Elk and Red Deer (Primarily Red Deer) face stares back, emerald eyes shining in delight. Her features are cervine, and short, three pronged antlers are angled up from her head. Her ears, a single set again!, twitch, large, wide, familiar. A smile stretches across her features as she continues her survey.
She's lean, delicate, long legs, and a fluff to her chest from her elk heritage. Her markings are striking, but subtle, dark brown that fades lighter at her hooves, her muzzle, her chest and belly. Striping along her back and sides, at her knees. A single white sock, a tapered blaze.
An elegant, and beautiful doe.
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Cally is a hyrbid of an irish elk and a red deer. Her design starts much like a red deer - slender legs off of cloven cervine hooves, shapely limbs, poised and graceful, and a face much like a red deer. She has a small set of antlers, roughly three prongs only, that while they are noticeable they're definitely not a 'trophy rack' a hunter would aim for.
The Irish elk comes in the sense of size, as she's far taller than your average deer, and stands about 14.2 (still much smaller than your average horse). She also has a thick plumage of fur around her chest, much like the Irish elk.
Her eyes are a rich emerald green that seems to shine with her emotions. That same green in sported in her eyes, and in the glittering hue of ley-line magic that sparkles over her pelt like tiny pixels of magical stardust from her parvus.
The doe herself remains a striking dunskin roan, with pangare like markings around her eyes and muzzle, and and the lower points of her limbs (stopping just shy of her knee) where her pelt is a distinct light tan. From there, her pelt darkens along her face, her lower limbs to a rich chocolate, with dark chocolate primitive stripes on her knees. Her body starts to fade at her chest, sides and belly where it takes on that soft roan color, that makes the dark chocolate dorsal stripe down her spine, and the dark chocolate and emerald green shoulder and hip barring stripes stand out.
She's an exquisite creature, graceful dainty, with a striking pelt that is made more striking by the singular white sock on her right hind leg, and the slender blaze down her muzzle that tapers out to a point just before it hits that cervine dark brown nose.
She has a satchel for travelling with her quiver attached to the side, and her bow secured just behind it, as well as a gold celtic knot on a gold strand she wears around her neck. In winter, you'll find her favorite green cloak secured around her neck and over her shoulders once more.
Okay! Who wants to go explore stuff and maybe get lost in a cave!? Cally is the most adventurous being your could find. She lives to explore, find new things, sate her insufferable curiosity over EVERYTHING. if it's new to her, she's packing a bag and going exploring. If it's well known to her, she's packing her bag and going exploring anyway because she might have missed something. She is the type to put a hoof through a hole in the wall, It might open a secret door in hopes of finding something new, and the type to eat a piece of fruit to find out if it's good or bad for you to try. She's really the worst type of explorer! A brave, reckless, dare-devil type!
Speaking of being brave, have we mentioned she's brave? Brave enough to stare down a dark shadow at the end of a dark cavern, and dare it to even THINK about taking a step towards her and her party! She might be 10 hands nothing, but that won't stop her from laying the verbal smack down on anyone attempt to sneak up or scare her (and any friends with her) away. She won't take none of that. Her bravery goes beyond that though, as she's the type who will cross the caving in old rickety bridge, or walk on a crumbling three inch wide path along a cliff. Nothing will stop her when her mind gets set on something.
Maybe now is a time to mention she is stubborn. You will quite LITERALLY talk yourself into the ground in an argument with her, because there is no budge coming. Cally had to learn early that when you're as tiny as she is, any hint of indecision gets decisions taken out of your hands - and also being as small as she is, most of those decisions are with things being too dangerous for her. So, yeah, there's no out stubborning this gal. She doesn't let her mind be swayed, and when she grows tired of humoring your arguments, she'll turn around and head off on what ever adventure you were arguing against.
And if you end up being right about it being a bad idea, don't expect an apology, because this gal believes firmly that even a fail is a chance to learn, and will argue on ten other points about why it actually was a good idea all along. Not only is she stubborn, but she's so stubborn she finds ways to make her bad decisions seem like good decisions, so her decision was really the only right decision all along. Maybe she's just crafty and a little manipulative. Maybe.
That's not all she is though. This young mare can easily be your next best friend (Callyisnotresponsibleforanydismembermenttraumaordeathfriendsexperiencewhenadventuringwithher.friendatyourownrisk), okay fine print done. Cally is with out a doubt the sort who loves to pull her friends into her grand schemes. She grew up in a sheltered lifestyle, and so now that she is no longer under her mother's hoof she has a tendency to completely and utterly throw herself at them. She likes having them around for everything! Hanging out by a scary dark cave opening small hole in a hill, walking through a super haunted, with lots of loud scary sounds forest, or even trying not to fall to your death climbing mountains, she likes to share all the wonders she experiences with others.
She's super protective though, so no worry about a monster about to take your head off - she'll give it a stern talking to! You'll be in no danger . . . . oh, perhaps we should mention she's a slight pacifist? She really doesn't like violence if she can help it (likely because anyone big enough to CAUSE her violence she can't take down by herself and her bow got left on the wrong side of the portal to Novus.But that doesn’t mean she won’t go out of her way to ensure those she likes and loves are well taken care of.
She’s fairly nurturing by her own right, the sort to mother those around her, constantly looking out for others, making sure they’ve eaten their fruits and vegetables for the day, making sure anyone hurt is treated properly. At times she can almost be over-bearing, but it’s just her natural desire to help support those around her. She’ll do just about anything to help her friends no matter the situation.
Not all of Cally’s traits are sweet, or enduring however . . . . behind all her clout of an independent, brave and adventurous mare is still a small fawn who is afraid of never being noticed or worthy anything to others. She’s always second guessing her own worth, her own appearance, really anything about herself. She can’t help it, she’s just got quite the case of low self esteem. Growing up with an overbearing mother that she could never conform to her desired view of her daughter, and a plain jane among a sea of beauties . . . Cally just doesn’t recognize she’s pretty amazing as herself, and she’s grown into quite a stunner.
Cally also has the tendency to be a little bit of a ‘Saving People’ thing, as well. This girl will place herself infront of a raging monster with teeth twice the size of her to protect a friend, and tends to forget to take care of herself. She’ll work herself into dead exhaustion to make sure others are okay. She’ll let her own wounds fester to make sure others are cared for. She’ll do just about anything it takes to make sure no one is hurting, no one is cold, or hungry, or tired. She’ll share her own meals, going with out. She’ll hand over her own bed, and stand watch. She’d rather be the one in a tough spot than see the others suffering.
Cally has many positive, fun traits for sure, brave and adventurous, an absolute fun time to be around, eager to help others, protective and nurturing, but it’s all tempered by the more negative aspects, her stubbornness, her refusal to see wrong, her self-sacrificing ways, her tendency to become overbearing.
A little brown fawn peeks out from behind her father's legs, her pelt mudded up with bits of grass stuck in the messy tufts. Her mother's expression darkens, as Cally cringes further behind her father's strong from. The buck stares down his mate - the love long lost between the pair and only the shared raising of the tiny fawn kept the duo close. Unfortunately they both had different opinions for how she should be raised.
It was a common fight, and one that Cally had been stuck in between for as long as she could live. The brightly colored doe (her mother) was determined to raise her daughter as a lady, to encourage her to follow the path of earthly magic and shifting, to embrace the walk of the druid. Her father (the more muted buck) was of the belief to let the girl do as she wished, let her learn what she wished . . . and Cally wished to learn all his tricks of trade as a ranger. She wanted to explore the surrounding forest, to learn the prints of every animal, to travel as quietly as her father did.
But it always led to a fight when the fawn returned home as dirty as she was today. Her mother would shake her long curly mane in anger, the vibrant pinks, blues and yellows in her hair assaulting the eyes. How was Cally to be a lady while covered in mud? How was she going to remember to walk with grace? Or know how low to bow her head? Or know when to say good afternoon, and when to say good evening? In truth, her mother unnerved her . . . and made Cally feel so insignificant.
Her mother was a force to be noticed. Every aspect of her was utilized to stand out. In a society where mutations, markings, and colors were earned through adventure and look (and some times growing into it), her mother shown like a goddess. Pale yellow with vibrant colors and markings. Small feathered wings, long flowing tail, a multitude of jewels and trinkets. She seemed to chime as she walked. And next to her, Cally felt boring with her simple pale brown coat, brown eyes . . . just brown. Her father was far easier to be with. He was just like her, though with more markings of his own. Browns and black and tans and creams, effectively making him invisible in the surrounding forested landscape. Next to him, Cally felt like she belonged, next to her mom she felt ugly and boring - not worth a glance.
And her mother loved to point out her flaws, her weaknesses, every single wrong doing she could ever have. And then she'd keep picking and picking and picking at that flaw, shredding Cally's confidence with every passing remark. The fawn was originally protected from the worst of the cruelty by the buck . . . but this would be the last time. The day had started fabulous with her father taking her out and leading her to a cave and showing her how to safely explore it, how to find good water to drink in it, and how to find your way out when you think you've gotten yourself amazingly lost.
Returning home had led to the biggest row she'd witnessed between her parents yet. And by the time morning came, her father had been chased out, and no longer could he protect Cally for her mother . . . and things changed. Going outside was taboo, and Cally spent her days being drilled in the lessons of a druid, of a lady, or the perfect daughter her mother had always wanted. Trapped beneath her thumb, and having her spirit crushed by her boring appearance day and day again.
Cally put up with it until she finally left fawnhood, growing into a very plain doe trapped inside and away from the adventure she so desperately wanted to take. Until finally she could take her mother no more, and like her father had so long ago, Cally left and was nowhere to be seen come morning.
So much had changed though - and while she remembered much of what her father had taught her, she was stuck in the lifestyle of a druid, commandeering nature to her whims, and altering her shape with it was needed. Now, however, the doe was eager to explore the world again . . . unfortunately she'd been so trapped in her youth, she was quite the plain doe among a society of vibrant and extremely mutated and marked adults. She was . . . . so boring.
The first change took place as magic touched her forehead, a Christmas gift, a Christmas miracle. A dark brown horn jolted into existence, straight and sleek . . . and while she was delighted to finally have something different about herself . . . still, she was so brown. However, the changes grew faster the more she explored, and the more she saw.
Spelunking in a cave, she discovered an odd fruit on a pedestal, taking a bite and growing her messy mane. Stumbling upon a glowing system of underground berries, and that green glow reflected in her eyes for the rest of her time. Pracing through the waters of a rumored blessed stream had her hooves splitting into a cloven appearance. Shivering in the cold had turned strands of her mane white, while the following spring, rolling in the dirt had trapped other strands green. Every adventure had a reaction, every interaction in nature had a change. And with it, Cally's old desire to see the world, to adventure, to explore came back.
Until she explored too far. It was a late fall day when she decided to explore a new location discovered by some friends. The doe had risen early, packing together her stuff in a small satchel around her waist that she could use for collecting herbs and food along the way. On one side of the bag a small digging dagger was clipped into place, while on the other was her druid staff in it's smallest size. Her favorite dark green cloak was drapped over her shoulders, her horn glowing with a green magic as she had the front of it snap together, the buckle latching into place before the glow disappeared from her horn and the front of the cloak settling back against her chest. She glanced around for her final necessary piece of equipment, and located it by the door. Her horn glowed green again as the bow was lifted and hooked over her back, before the quiver of arrows followed next.
Ready to go, her journey began, taking the doe to the edge of the forest she called home and far beyond it. Three days she journeyed before coming across a land that seemed like nothing she'd ever seen before. A cave was noticed ahead, and instantly a gleam entered the druid's eyes and she couldn't ignore the call to explore. She headed inside, noting the way the top of the caverns were lit by glowing insects. Along the walls were paintings, stories.
Each scene seemed to show one highest power with a grouping of younger others along with it. A story of distance and heartbreak, of betrayal and deception. Of pain and darkness, and suffering . . . and then a reprieve, but not a true fix. She ventured forward, eager to see what was next, what else the story told . . . and then she saw something new.
There, up ahead! It was a large archway in the center of the cavern that seemed to have some sort of liquid suspended into it. Young Cally stared it down curiously, before the deer moved forward, head held high. She touched the liquid with her horn, watching it dip into it, the liquid around where she touched it taking on a green tinge, the same color as her brand of magic.
She withdrew, before her horn glowed green, this time the glow surrounding her as she began to slowly shrink, her tail growing out until it was long and lush, her hooves disappearing into paws, her face shrinking and horns disappearing, before her colors washed from her pelt. The glow sank into her body to lock the shape shift into place as the tiny white fox darted around the odd archway once . . . twice . . . . three times.
The black nose was twitching furiously as she tried to discover it's secrets. But nothing seemed to give her any hint to what it might be. She shifted back to her natural deer-ish form, as the doe peered closer to the archway, noticing some words across the top of it, The dawn sun dries the dew, the day light brings the warmth, the dusk hours shelter from heat, and the night's moon brightens the dark. She had no knowledge of what it could mean, but there was only one thing left to do now.
She walked into the archway. Anyone watching would have watched as the liquid seemed to glow with the same green that surrounded her horn as she preformed magic, and as the last bit of the doe disappeared through the arch, the green was suddenly blasted away, lightening the chamber in an eery glow, before it died down, once more dormant and empty. No one would have known someone had just passed through.
Cally would remain suspended in a deep hibernation for a month as her magic went to work, trying to preserve her, to protect the doe in the world she was going to, even as it was being locked away. The effects came quick as her body seemed to morph into what the archway wanted, turning more equine, less Cally. As the magic felt the final bands tightening around it's ability to be used, it flared out from her one last time, her hooves returning to form, but more deer-like. Her face keeping it's deer-ish shape, her deer-like tail once more reintroduced and held strong. Her body darkened, brindling with dark browns, tans and creams, while threads of green hid amongst the darker colors. Her sides roaned out, lighter in creams and soft pale green. A dorsal stripe darkened down her back, banding out at her hips and shoulders. The magic flared bright, refusing to let the foreign power distort the doe too much. The green glow clung to her body, disappearing into it to lock itself away - and lock her form into shape. A final valiant effort so even when she woke, more pony than before, it wouldn't be to the face of a stranger.
Sun touched her face, and Cally rubbed at her nose in distaste, ears flicking, the two stalks rubbing faintly against each other as she tried to roll away from where she knew the window in her home was at . . . . the sun continued to hit her face as birds twittered above her and wind rustled her. Cally's eyes snapped open, realizing she wasn't at home. She slowly clammered to her feet, slowly staring out in horror at a world she didn't recognize. She seemed to shake, staring in all directions for the familiar trees of the Thicket, but nothing.
A trickling brook caught her attention, forward set of ears pitching to catch the soft sounds, as her second set seemed to scout for danger. She headed towards it, suddenly thirsty. As she lowered her head for a drink, her reflection finally was caught, and a startled, terrified scream left the former doe, now odd mix of deer and horse, as she stared at herself in shock and horror. Only then did she notice she wasn't herself, and with out her items. What had happened?!
Novus Update - Active Magic
Reincarnation Memories - Reactivated
The oddest bit of Callynite has just been re-remembered upon the activation of her magic and reconnection to earth. Having been forced into the very earth in a state of a magic-induced coma, the magic finished fully integrating with in Callynite, and in the process unlocked memories of her previous live(s), in particular her first life with in her home realm where she was far more important than she even realized. Now aware that she's a reincarnation of a mother nature goddess-like figure of another land, Cally's magic is limited to her active magic, but her previous memories allow a lot more history, and more importantly wisdom for the young doe to draw upon.
Tier 1: Discipuli
Cally has only regained her magic at this stage, and is relearning what her magic is, and how the flow of the energies of Novus differ from her own world. At this stage the only constant she seems to have is being able to follow that flow (like following the ley-lines) of the strongest currents of the natural world's energies; with this ability to follow the flows she can now hear the natural world once more, although voices appear muted and inconsistent. She can also have small influence over the natural world with in her general vicinity (no more than 10 yards away - and must be within DIRECT eyesight). Influences are minor, such as moving limbs out of her way, or a vine aiding her in tripping a predator following her. All influences will not last longer than 5 minutes, and if she does too much at once, her abilities will become too stretched and sputter out completely, usually at the cost of her own energy catalyzing to put the energies she overtaxed back at rest. At this stage, there's little that Cally can do, but the flow of the energies is now a constant company for the doe, and she'll find herself straying to areas where the flows are the strongest..
Tier 2: Vexillum
At the second tier, Cally can now feel the flow of the energies no matter the level they are at, and has now started to tune into them in a far more private manner, whether from her own energy fixing her mistakes, or from the amount of time she spends in the areas where the flow is constant, she is starting to feel the most comfortable when she can feel the flow of the energies around her. She can also now feel the flow of energy with in her, and is starting to feel the flow of energies with in other beings when she focuses as well - this is the stage in which she will start to figure out just how extensive the Natural Energy is, and what it means to be in tune with it all. Being so in tune to the flow, Cally is also fully connected into the labrynth of the natural world, and can always hear the plants and forests and their whispering, as well as now feel her own magic fully once more, and the way it interacts with the world around her, as well as with her own being and self. When it comes to her abilities to interact and manipulate the flow, she can now handle many small interactions simultaneously. She can move branches out of her way, and keep them held back for companions, even as she moves forward. The effects will last for 10 minutes, or until she releases the magic. Along with these minor interactions, she is now able to effect the energies with some medium impacts - such as encouraging plant life to grow (though no more than a 2 by 2 yard selection of plants, and the effect is limited to a 10 minute accelerated growth period), or influencing plant life to shift to allow sunlight to reach the struggling plants. While her power is still more steady, the cost is still in play - in effect the natural energies, over taxing herself causes the energy flow to require her energy to correct the flows, causing her to tire out when she overtaxes the energies or puts too much together at once.
Tier 3: Periti
At this level, Cally is now part of the energy flows, and can trace them currents of natural energies and tell what energies resonate with different aspects of nature. She can tell life-energy from plant-energy from rock-energy or even water-energy. She can also use this energy to map out location of items, knowing how to follow the trickles of water-energy to the source of a river, or tell when plant-energy gives way to a more abundance rock-energy for cave systems or mountainous locations. At this level, Cally can also start to direct the energies and shift and change the types of rock-energy. Rock can become quartz or amethyst or coal at her nudge and manipulation of the energies, and the shift can last hours at this point if left alone. She can also manipulate the plant-energies to different kinds of plants, whether it's changing the colors of a flower, or changing a rose into a moss-rose, or a daisy into a tulip. The action is taxing however, and she cannot change the forms off more than 10 energies in a row with out having to recharge her own energies for a minimum of four hours to do anymore. At this stage, her ability to put her own force of act upon the energies can have her moving large branches away from a trail for an extended period of time (a limit of two hours), or encouraging the growth of plant life for an equal amount of time. She can also move small plants entirely by the force of this energy, encouraging the plant to shift and rebed itself in soil. Her magic can force the very forest to shift for her, even if for just a few hours, but any plants that end up rebedded will last their life-time.
Tier 4: Dominus
At this stage, Cally is now in constant conenction to the flows, and can redirect the flow of water-energy to carve new beds to a river, or to create new ponds, streams from the main force of water-energy that were previously not there (such large manipulations of the energy are extremely taxing, and will require the use of her own energy to manipulate the energy flows for a period of time greater than 5 hours. Manipulating the energies for longer than three will require a two day resting period for her after). She can manipulate the flows of plant-energy and cause growth of plant-life where it might not have grown before. She can create entire forests to grow with a push of the energies. She can manipulate the energies themselves and change the energy types of smaller energies completely - changing rock into plant, or a flower into a bush. At this stage, she can also now trace any kind of energy, allowing her to get a sense of her surroundings just by the energies around her, include the location of other individuals and forces by the feeling of the different classes of energies (such as life-energy, versus plant-energy, versus water-energy (please note Gods and God-Items do not fall under any class :P as they're entirely different kind of beings). Her power over the manipulation of energies is only limited by her imagination, creativity and her own energy levels acting upon the flows.
Parvus: Cally's connection to energies will come into a visible cost, in the form of an aura seeming to settle over her. It shifts with the shifting of energies, and acts upon her own natural energy, strengthening it as it sees fit. During her lesser levels, her emotions can cause this aura of energies to become more visible, growing in strength and power - as if the energy flow itself is backing her up when she's frightened, or fierce. As she grows more powerful with her magic, the flow will feed more energy into her, strengthening their champion as she strengthens them with her energies, and even as her own emotions will lessen their effects, the energy won't hesitate to act up in what ever form it sees fit to her causes. While the energy flow will typically take the form and color of a mere green aura that hovers over her by a few centimeters, it can change hue, shape and opacity at whim, and typically in conjunction to her emotions (and despite her frustration with it she'll have no impact on any aspect of it).
Outfit - Cally has a dark green cloak edged in white that is her outfit of choice when travelling. A clasp of white, green and black closes it over her chest. It falls over her back and down her sides, stopping just below her knees. The fabric is soft, thick and warm on the inside, while the outside is water repellent, perfect for wet or wintery days.
Accessories: Cally has a small satchel that she tends to carry with her. It currently has two empty slots on it from where her small digging dagger had gone missing, as well as her druid staff. Not that she imagines she'll need the staff with her magic locked away. The satchel itself is usually empty, typically being filled along the way with edible treats and snack she finds while exploring, and designed in a similar manner as a saddle bag, hanging over her back and clipped at her belly, the bag itself horizontal at her side.
Weapon: Gifted to Cally by Isra, this bow was once a stone, but now it's a golden bow correctly sized for Cally's small stature, and primed for her personal use. Etching of emerald ivy climbs up the bow, and when not in use, it's casually clipped into a small loop on the side of her satchel. On the opposite side of the satchel is a quiver made out of the same brown hide, but reinforced with a tougher, stiffer hide layer to help it keep it's shape a bit better. Inside are nestled plenty of arrows for Cally's use, etch with a carefully carved serrated edge, and fletched with random brown, white and black feathers she finds while exploring. No arrow is alike, but her skill with the bow has them all flying true.
Around her neck is a small gold celtic knot, half of a set that was given to her on her wedding date by her husband. The pendant is strung on a gold cord.
Avatar & Character image by Bingo