Bjarga Aslaug

Bjarga Aslaug,

Ooh! Isn't it Shiny!?!

"Hi! My name is Bjarga, Bjarga Aslaug. Just don't call me 'Blargh' or 'Blah'. That really ticks me off."

"Anyway, happy note: I've got all these shinies! See? They may look like shards of glass and crystal, but when you hold it up to the sun just right..." The crystal in her hand acts as a prism, bending the light into a prismatic array, "See! Rainbows! Oh my gosh, I love the sun, and colors, and..." her voice trails off as she begins to think of the beautiful things in life, her eyes beginning to water, purring softly until she notices...

"Oh! Look at her! Isn't she pretty? One moment." Even as she walked away, sounding much like a chandelier with all the hanging glass and crystal, Bjarga's more feminine curves and features would tighten, and her arms would bulk out slightly until she was a handsome young man... with a big, fluffy brunette tail? "Hello. This world is filled with beauty, my dear. The sun, the sky, stars in the night's sky, but nothing as radiant as you." He'd give her a smoldering look, and a genuine smile. Regardless of swoon or smack, he'd maintain his composure, bid her a good day, and leave her in whatever state she found herself in.

"Sorry about that. You can't just let such a magnificent creature walk by without saying hello, right? Anyway, I got one more thing to show you." He'd spread out his arms and legs, drawing attention to his arms which, save his hands, which looked oddly similar to that of a squirrel. The robes and garb he wore hid what lie beneath, yet he took on an almost rectangular shape as the skin within was pulled taught. The colorful display of ribbon and robe of bright, vibrant colors gave way to the white sheets beneath. With a running start and a powerful gust of wind he took to the skies.

Another gust. Another gust. He took ever higher and higher in to the skies, The sun would reflect off the various glass and crystal fragments he wore caused a spectrum of colors like a sky full of rainbows to appear upon that white sheet beneath him. He'd give out a boisterous cheer full of mirth and joy, and vanish in to the horizon.

---

"That was a good memory, but they're not all like that, let me tell you. I remember the first time I flew to the west. I ran in to someone who, upon seeing my lovely feet," lifts her foot and wiggles her squirrel-like toes playfully, "started shouting the most terrible things at me. I was shocked. I'd heard about it from the monks, but to experience it... I froze. Then he came up and grabbed me. I got upset. I told him to let me go. He wouldn't."

"I..." her voice would begin to crack as tears began to form, "I leapt on him. I bit him. I clawed viciously with my toes. I was like an animal, until he let me go, screaming. I ran. Some people chased me. I was so scared, I used the wind to throw all sorts of things at them, anything I could. I turned a corner, and I flew away."

"I remember washing the blood off my feet, and out of my teeth. I could still taste it, even once I was done. I felt like a wild beast. I cried. I cried so much. I almost went back to the monastery. They'd called me an animal, and an animal is what I'd become. That's what I thought anyway."

"- but then I calmed down, and I meditated, and I remembered that he had attacked me. He had grabbed me. He hadn't let me go. Every creature, whether predator or prey, has a right to protect itself. I was no different. I hadn't savagely mauled him unprovoked. It was terrible, and even when I was done meditating, I still laid there not wanting to move for the rest of the day. I took it really hard. However, when I woke the next day, and saw all the beautiful colors of the morning sky, I remembered I had a reason for leaving, a reason for being here. I picked myself up, and I flew, once again, in to the horizon.

Bjarga hosts a patagium that stretches between her wrists and ankles which, with her wind magic to provide lift, she's uses to glide across the sky. She keeps patagium hidden under her robes, but it means the sides of her body, from her arms to her ankles, are covered in animal-like hair. She was fortunate enough to human hands, yet she has squirrel-like feet, including claws. Usually, she forgoes shoes, and her feet are clearly visible to whomever happens to notice. Her head to her loins are humanoid, sans on the sides where they clearly exhibit animal-like qualities, and she changes from a small, cute young female to a dashing man on a whim. As a man, he's very tone. His chest is tight, lacking any excessive fat, and he becomes roughly four inches taller. Regardless of her sex, she always has a massive, bushy tail too large to conceal - so she doesn't. She thinks it is wonderful, and is sure you will too.

Usually, her posture varies depending on her mood. She's very expressive in the way she carries herself, almost comically so. It comes from the over-the-top way the children used to play as their gods. You don't do anything small or meek when you're a god. She just played so often the grandiose mannerisms and expressions never really stopped.

When she becomes he, he becomes far more confident and serious in his mannerisms; a bit cocky. It's like he's aware of his attractive figure, and the effect it has on people. Where she is bubbly and playful, he's confident and empowered: a remnant from the times after his first time being a "him". The gloating never really left the persona. 




She wears traditional monk garb, albeit with richer colors. She's added to them, in her travels, varying ribbons of lace and color fabric that give her robes the odd appearance of having streamers. She also wears a mesh of thread that, from it, hangs broken glass and crystal like some sort of shattered chandelier. Despite the nature of it, she draws great pleasure from them as she spends her idle time holding them to the light and utilizing them like prisms. She's truly a woman obsessed with color.

Parents:

Monks?

Siblings:

Monks.

Extended Family:

Also Monks.


Born in a monastery near Leiche Town, she was told of their heritage: an order of beings, devoted to the gods that acted only when the gods willed it in times of crisis. She was taught of the history of the world through a theological view, and as children she and her fellows would act as the various deities in their games, acting out the events of history in innocent play.

It was a sheltered life, and a happy one. She worked hard to grow for her peoples, care for them with herbs they grew and gathered themselves, learned to listen rather than think, and to find peace within herself and all other living things.

However, as she grew older, everything seemed to change. Boys that were once innocent friends treated her differently. The robes and garbs they wore changed, as men were allowed to bare their chests, yet women remained shrouded. The heat of summer days made this distinction readily apparent, and in her frustration and rage she became he. He was giddy as he tore off his robes, attempting to mimic the style of dress his male counterparts had grown accustomed to. They looked upon him with abject horror. His fellow young ladies followed suit. It was the elders that took him away, and explained that such a thing was unsightly. He grew enraged, demanding they see the inherent inequality of dress they bore, but his protests were ultimately silenced.

He stayed that way for some time, a man, angry and bitter, ostracized from his peers and treated differently, simply because he could not tolerate the injustice of their current situation. They taught him of the world, and how cultures worked, and people acted, and the great tragedies of the world in order to teach him empathy, understanding, and humility.

It did not have the desired effect, and only caused him to grow further indignant at the inherent injustice of the world. No longer was it mere wear of robes, but whole people, whose only crime was their birth or unintentional injury and limb replacement, being treated as lesser beings, and at times slaughtered wholesale? He demanded to know why the monks had not acted.

"It was not the will of the gods."

For the first time, Bjarga questioned the will of the gods. He become a woman once more in defiance, yet still attempted to wear the male garb. She was threatened for her indecency, and they approached her with the intent to discipline when she scurried away and, in as much of a surprise to herself as the monks that threatened her, took flight.

She soared across the sky jubilantly, and with child-like glee. For once in several years she took flight. She soared and saw the small town below with its many statues of the gods. She flew down and mingled with the people below. They showed her things, foods she was never allowed to taste that came from the flesh of previously living animals, which tasted foul and she spat out to their amusement, they showed her beautiful things that could be seen through, yet shone like a rainbow when held up to the sun just right. She begged for such a thing, lamenting the fact she did not have an all-precious piece of paper that seemed to be worth all things. They laughed at her sincerity once more, yet she did not know their mirth was not entirely friendly, and they gave her a broken shard. She'd hold it up to the light, see her rainbows, and cherished it. They laughed at how a simple monk girl could love something so worthless.

Her emotions had run their course and need for distance assuaged, she'd thank the kind townspeople, even as they secretly mocked her ignorance and ridiculed her through pleasant manner and tone, and depart ignorant of anything but their undeniable goodness.

She'd return, and they'd try to take the crystal from her. She would not relent, and after many failed attempts to pin her down and punish her without excessive pain being brought upon themselves, they relented.

Her teachings grew stricter as they tried to browbeat their ways and their culture upon her. They taught her of more terrible things, and how she should be grateful for what she had. She'd offer her own experience in protest, and they tried to reveal the truth of her encounter: a truth she did not believe.

Arithelia was her favorite as a child, and to hear of her falling, after hearing so many tales of her goodness, brought her to question her elders once more. If they served the gods, why do they not come to her aid?

"We do not show favoritism. We serve all the gods. If she has fallen, and those above do not wish for us to assist her, it is not our place to disobey."

She'd had enough. She packed what bags she could carry with what foods she liked eating, and flew away in to the night, never looking back.

She openly and brazenly seeks Arithelia now, collecting broken glass and crystal to add to her collection of "pretties" and "rainbows". She's added a plethora of gaudy fabrics to her traditional robes, and has had many encounters with people of all sorts, yet never seems to remember them quite as maliciously as those around her.

While it lead to many less-than-ideal circumstances in her travels, her persistent questioning has given her a lead: Arithelia may be in Ethea. She shall soon be as well.

Flight: This ability enables a person to fly. Wither that be through the use of wings or utilizing wind magic.

Ambiguity: The ability to change into both male and female, as well as an in between at will. However, male's born with this ability have a 15% chance of becoming pregnant and are forced into a female or split gender until term.

Wind I: The user has the ability to create a temporary gust of wind strong enough to lead to a hefty push. On the Beaufort Scale it can be as strong as level six.



Electric Aura I: You are now able to set the entirety of your body aflame in sparks, making you a much more intense hand to hand combatant.

Details: However, the flow of energies within Bjarga caused her hairs to stand on end, then vibrate. The friction would cause her to spark, and she'd begin to shock herself painfully. One of the monks suggested she utilize it in a swifter manner, more akin to the martial art derived from the katas they sought to teach. The result was a powerful, focused flow of energy, both spiritual and electrical. However, the monks ultimately determined allowing her to continue on this path was dangerous to both her physical and spiritual well-being, and resumed having her to learn proper, traditional meditation techniques. They forced her to promise never to practice such forms again unless instructed by one of her elders.

Lightning I: You are now able to shoot off a single bolt of lightning (a projectile) at a time. You are not yet able to make one powerful enough to overcharge a cyborg or android.

Details: The flow of energy from her kata has become so efficient that she can now direct the energy to an extent that she can unleash it in controlled bursts of electrical energy. Her natural affinity for the style has enabled her to replicate feats of legendary monks, while ignorant of the implications of doing so.




Unarmed I: The monks in her monastery a martial art based on their meditative kata. While the kata was generally utilized by more restless monks who found it difficult to reach a meditative state by more traditional means, it also emphasized the flow of energies within one's body, making it ideal for Magi seeking to utilize both physical combat and magic in harmony. However, at this level of skill, one is far from mastering the discipline. When Bjarga was young, she was an energetic and restless child. It was clear that one such as her would surely benefit from learning some of the calming, meditative katas practiced in the monastery... (See Electric Aura I)

[b]Suisei no Gargantia, Amy[/b] as [i]Bjarga Aslaug[/i]