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Player Information:
Name: Sarah
Age: Over 18!
Contact: sarahthesilent@plurk
Game Cast: N/A
Character Information:
Name: Sabriel
Canon: Sabriel, the first volume of the Old Kingdom book series.
Canon Point: As she and Touchstone open the doors to leave Holehallow.
Age: 18
Reference: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabriel and oldkingdomwiki.wikia.com/wiki/Sabriel_%28Book%29
Setting: Sabriel's canon is set in two countries- Ancelstierre, which resembles 1920's England, where technology holds sway, and the Old Kingdom, where magic, Free and Charter, rule. The two countries are divided by the Wall, a stone structure that runs along the entire border between the two countries.
Sabriel's story begins in northern Ancelstierre- the only place in the country where magic works, though it is not officially recognized. Still, most residents know that magic exists, and one boarding school for young ladies called Wyverley College unofficially tutors its students in the basics of sorcery (and swordsmanship) . Magic, however, is not the only thing from the Old Kingdom that enters it's southern neighbor. The Ancelstierrian army has fortified the entire border, up to a half mile from the wall for the entire length of it.
Free Magic and the Origins of the Charter In contrast to Charter Magic, which is more orderly, Free Magic is chaotic. Exactly what it is and what it can do isn't fully described in the books, but it is tied to the origins of the Charter
Long, LONG ago, the Charter didn't exist, and there was only Free Magic. Out of the countless Free Magic spirits and elementals that existed, nine were the most powerful, and most sapient. Of these nine Bright Shiners, the most powerful was Orannis the Destroyer, who wiped all life from six worlds (Or possibly from the same world six times, it isn't entirely clear.) In response, seven of the remaining eight bound Orannis (The eighth Bright Shiner, Yrael, remained neutral, until the Seven bound him to serve the Charter), and then created the Charter, pouring much of their being, and of many lesser elementals, into its creation, and for the most part ceased to exist as separate, aware beings after that. (With some exceptions that pop up in later books.) Five of the seven poured their power into four bloodlines- the Abhorsens (A bloodline with the ability to use both Charter and Free magic, and tasked with fighting the Dead) , the Royal Family (Self explanatory), the Clayr (All-female clan of seers, with the power to See many possible futures), and the Wallmakers (They make magical items), who later chose to put their power into the Great Charter Stones under the royal palace, and into the Wall itself. In Sabriel, the Stones, the Wall, and three remaining bloodlines are referred to as the Five Great Charters.
Nowadays, Free Magic is used mostly by necromancers and Free Magic sorcerers, and they and the few Free Magic spirits that remain are inherently enemies of the Charter.
The most powerful Free Magic sorcerors are necromancers- individuals who wield seven bells infused with Free Magic power, and have the ability to raise and control Dead spirits. Throughout the series, it's stated that Free Magic can accomplish other things as well- it's vaguely described, but Free Magic is apparently incredibly destructive, and can also be used to control minds.
The Charter To discuss the Old Kingdom, it helps to understand the Charter first. The Charter is the primary magical system of the Old Kingdom, and more than that, containing within its infinity of symbols descriptions of everything in the Old Kingdom, and has been described as the Old Kingdom's foundation- when the Charter is damaged, the Old Kingdom declines and begins to fall into chaos... And this has been happening since two hundred years before the events of Sabriel's book.
While members of the Abhorsen, Clayr, and Royal families have a greater aptitude for Charter Magic, than most, any living human can be baptized into the Charter, receiving a Charter Mark and the potential to learn how to use Charter Magic by reaching into the Charter and drawing forth the marks that describe the effect they want to create, and then speaking, writing, signing, or in some cases whistling or visualizing the marks to perform the spell. Charter mages can become corrupted- while the exact process isn't spelled out, it seems to involve falling to the temptation to use Free Magic. While simply using Free Magic won't corrupt an Abhorsen, they can become corrupted if they abuse their abilities.
Charter Stones act as conduits into the Charter, making it easier to cast Charter Magic. While the Great Stones are underneath the royal palace, there are lesser stones found throughout the kingdom- some in villages, others along major roads or occasionally in the wilderness. When intact, they resemble large stone monoliths with Charter Marks constantly running over their surface. Charter Stones can be broken by powerful necromancers, using a ritual that requires the blood and death of a Charter Mage. Lesser stones can be broken with the blood of normal mages, but to damage one of the Great stones requires the blood of a member of the Abhorsen, Clayr, or Royal families.
Broken stones make Charter Magic difficult to cast- Sabriel describes it as feeling like somthing was holding her jaw shut as she tried to speak the words of a spell- and instill a sense of nausea and sickness in those who come near them. Broken Stones create paths between Life and Death, and the areas surrounding them are often overrun by Dead who take advantage of this easy path into Life.
The Old Kingdom: Is in a state of anarchy. Two hundred years ago the Royal Family was murdered, and two of the Great Charter Stones were broken with their blood. For a hundred and eighty years there was a regency, but with the death of the last regent in a fire that destroyed much of the Royal Palace, anarchy has reigned for the last twenty, and each year, more Charter Stones are broken and villages abandoned, and the two thirds of Belisaere, the capital of the country, have been abandoned to the Dead, with the remaining third protected only by the aqueducts.
Death A kind of parallel realm, Death is an endlessly wide river with no shores that flows through nine different precincts, each containing different dangers. It's not exactly the true afterlife- if anything like that exists, it lies beyond the Ninth Gate, beyond which nothing can return. Necromancers can learn to send their spirits, though not their bodies, into Death.
The Dead Some spirits attempt to cling to life, and fight the current of Death. All Dead require the life-force of the living to remain in life, and must kill to obtain it. While the Dead come in many forms, from shambling corpses to spirits shattered into a hundred pieces with each fragment placed into the body of a crow, to flaming monsters with bodies made of Free Magic, bog clay, and human blood, at their core they are all spirits who refuse to pass on, and steal life to do so. Weaker Dead often inhabit corpses, and have some vulnerability to fire and sunlight, though more powerful spirits do not, appearing as pitch-black shadows with flaming eyes.
All Dead have a vulnerability to running water- the deeper and swifter the better. Little trickles, or large amounts of shallow and stagnant water will not stop even the weakest Dead, but even the greatest cannot cross a river. While earth taken from a grave can negate this weakness, any other attempt to cross by the Dead will result in their physical forms being destroyed and their spirits being forced into Death.
Kerrigor The Greatest of the Greater Dead. Responsible for the damage to the Charter, and the decline of the Old Kingdom into anarchy. Was once the Royal Prince, Rogirrek, until he traded his life for power, and lured his mother and sisters to the Great Charter stones, killing all three of them and succeeding in breaking two of the stones. Has hidden his true body, and cannot be forced beyond the Ninth Gate until it is found and destroyed. Trapped in Death for nearly two hundred years by successive generations of Abhorsens, he has recently returned to Life.
Abhorsen As stated above, Abhorsens are tasked with the destruction of the Dead and Free Magic spirits, using both Charter and Free Magic. The bells they wield are unique, containing both Free and Charter magic, unlike the bells of ordinary necromancers, that only contain Free Magic. The family has a house, called Abhorsen's House, (The bloodline is not big on creative naming) which is located on an island in the middle of the biggest river in the Kingdom and heavily warded against the Dead. All members of this bloodline have dark hair and eyes, and unnaturally pale skin.
Clayr A bloodline of women with clairvoyant powers, the Clayr are the most numerous bloodline at this canon point, numbering in the thousands. The Clayr live a communal lifestyle at a massive complex built mostly inside of two peaks, called the Clayr's Glacier after the glacier that lies between them, and rarely venture outside of it. While individual Clayr often have fragmented visions, they must gather together in larger groups at their Observatory to truly focus their sight. In addition to seeing the future, they also possess the largest library in the Old Kingdom. The Clayr have brown skin, blonde to light brown hair, blue or green eyes, and are almost always female.
Sabriel's Father The previous Abhorsen. Trapped in Death, he send his bells and sword to Sabriel, spurring her to journey into the Old Kingdom to find his body and retrieve his spirit, kicking off the events of the book.
Mogget An immensely powerful and ancient Free Magic spirit, bound to serve the Abhorsen bloodline, currently in the shape of a small white cat. Is revealed in later books to be the eighth Bright Shiner, Yrael.
Touchstone A young man, trapped in a magical state of suspension for two hundred years before Sabriel freed him. Is actually Kerrigor's half brother, and the last surviving member of the royal bloodline.
Personality: Sabriel's first where she isn't a newborn features her reviving a rabbit from the dead, and then playing the role of stern prefect to the little girl who snuck out to chase her pet... While conveniently letting her get back inside school grounds without any trouble. Sabriel has a drive to help people in need, even if she has other things she should be doing; after the canon point I've picked for her, Sabriel is only dissuaded from putting her plans to rescue her father on hold to save some children being used as bait for the Dead by being reminded that they're currently outnumbered.
Sabriel's five years were spent with her father and a band of travelers, before her father deposited her at Wyverley College, a school for 'young ladies of quality' in the norther part of Ancelstierre. Sabriel spent her next thirteen years at the school. During that time, Sabriel led a reasonably happy life- while her affinity for Death and the Dead, and her knowledge of necromancy may have occasionally unsettled her teachers and classmates, but she was generally well liked, and trusted enough by her teachers to become a prefect.
For someone her age, Sabriel has a surprising amount of experience in dealing with danger- she's been traveling in and out of Death since she was twelve, and can come across as surprisingly mature in some ways- She's fought and defeated a handful of Dead that managed to get as far south as her school, and the only characters to match or exceed her knowledge of necromancy are her father and Mogget. Sabriel is perfectly willing to take charge and solve problems herself, and isn't short on self confidence- or courage. Even after realizing that something or someone extremely powerful is sending the Dead after her, she carries on with her plan to rescue her father, heading to his body even though she knows she's probably walking into a trap. Her sense of right and wrong is firm, and she won't hesitate when it comes to helping people in trouble, and she definitely derives satisfaction from helping people- part of the reason she revives Touchstone immediately rather than wait and come back to help him later is that it's the first problem with a straightforward, immediate solution that she's faced since she crossed the Wall.
Having spent much of her life at a school for "young ladies of quality", Sabriel has received a firm grounding in social etiquette, though she tends to apply her lessons for dealing with troublesome servants to people who she dislikes, rather than her social inferiors- She's polite to almost everyone she meets, and prefers polite diplomacy to physical or verbal confrontation- though she will not shy away from it she sees something obviously wrong or harmful happening.
When she's frustrated, Sabriel stays polite at first, but gradually grows more snippy, sarcastic, and condescending, speaking to to Touchstone as though he's twelve before finally snapping and harshly telling him that she wants a useful friend, not a fawning servant. Sabriel doesn't seem quite sure what to make of Touchstone- she hasn't had much experience with men her own age, though she admits to having 'curiously fond feelings', that past her canon point develop into a crush, and eventually, love.
Sabriel is still a teenaged girl , and before her sudden journey into the Old Kingdom she was perfectly happy to do normal teenage girl things- sneaking out to see movies and drinking brandy with her friends (and regretting it.) In some ways, she's still naive- Before she entered the Old Kingdom, she had no experience with human death, and she didn't realize how paranoid the soldiers at the perimeter were about using magic until she nearly got herself into a great deal of trouble by trying to play a trick on a pompous soldier. It's only after being chased by a powerful Dead creature that she realizes that all the Dead she'd faced so far had been severely weakened by being so far south, and she doesn't know nearly as much about Charter Magic or her own father as she thought she did- and that her near-total ignorance about the Old Kingdom is a bigger problem than she thought it would be.
Sabriel's father is her only living family, and despite only seeing him one a month, (With actual physical visits twice yearly) she seems to be closer to him than anyone else, discussing not only magic and her studies with him, but also her hopes and dreams. Still, she never realized that Abhorsen was his title, not his name- or that he wasn't simply a necromancer who'd chosen to use his power for good, or how unusual it was for the two of them to be capable of wielding both Free and Charter magic. Still, she's willing to head into extremely dangerous circumstances for his sake
While Sabriel denies that her father is truly dead and insists she can still return him to life and corrects Touchstone and Mogget when they call her Abhorsen, some small, unconscious part of her seems to have accepted the truth- her father is dead, and she must take up his work. Consciously, she insists she's only acting as a substitute until her father is rescued- and that she's only out to save her father, not the kingdom. Shortly after the canon point I'm taking her from, she identifies herself as Abhorsen to a group of villagers who are troubled by the Dead before assisting them, though she doesn't seem to truly consider herself to be an Abhorsen yet.
Sabriel's attitude towards her abilities seems somewhat ambivalent- when she's considering moving south to go to university in Ancelstierre, she sees losing her access to magic as a loss- and losing her connection to Death as a benefit. She's still frightened by the grimoire she learned necromancy from, though she's still willing to read it again. Sabriel doesn't shy away from journeying into dead when she finds it neccessary, and uses necromancy instead of Charter magic as her first resort when dealing with the Dead- in any other circumstance, where force is required, she relies on her skill with a blade and Charter magic, rather than turning her bells on the living, and generally preferring to counter and incapacitate rather than seriously harm.
[In Tu Shanshu] Sabriel's initial reaction to being trapped will be frustration and exasperation- she's been traveling between Life and Death since she was twelve, so why can't she leave a place that's between the two of them? After getting over her initial shock, she's likely to try to learn more about her new surroundings, to find a way out... While probably being sidetracked by her desire to help people in trouble, and learning not to be immediately hostile to any undead she encounters. It might take a few days for her to finally understand that nothing from her world has followed her onto the turtle.
Appearance: Sabriel's described as a tall for a woman, with black hair cut into a bob and skin that's a shade too pale to be completely natural. I'm using Shea Pruegger as a PB along with fanart by this artist.
Abilities: Charter Magic- Sabriel can use Charter Marks to various effects- from shooting magical projectiles and creating shields to simple stuff like making nearby small objects appear in her hands, to pulling water out of the air or summoning wind. While she's powerful in terms of raw potential, coming in first in her class at school, her training so far has actually been fairly limited; when she finds a Charter Magic spellbook in her father's house, she's realizes she's only familiar with less than a fourth of the marks it describes.
Necromancy- I'll discuss the specific powers of the bells in the inventory section, but even without instruments, Sabriel can exert a limited amount of control over the Dead by creating music- singing, whistling, clapping her hands or stamping her feet.
Death Sense- While Sabriel will lose her ability to enter Death upon entrance to the game, she will retain her ability to feel when people and animals die near her, detect the presence of corpses, undead, ghosts, and whether people people have died at a particular location. (The more deaths, the stronger the impression made.) She's also able to determine how long a corpse has been dead simply by looking at it. There will be a permissions post for this.
Swordsmanship- Sabriel is competent in swordfighting, and thanks to her school's unusual curriculum, is used to fighting in a chainmail hauberk.
Inventory: Mail armor that's made of a lightweight but very strong ceramic, and a helmet made of the same material, and the clothes
Abhorsen's sword- An ancient longsword with a bronze hilt and crossguard, and a dull emerald in the pommel. Made by the Wallmakers more than a thousand years ago, it's still in remarkably good condition, and imbued with spells that make it a powerful weapon against the Dead.
The seven bells of necromancy- Seven silver bells with mahogany handles containing both Free and Charter Magic. I intend to use a permissions post for them, and Sabriel's death sense.
Ranna: The first, and smallest bell, the sleeper. It sends those who hear it into slumber.
Mosrael: The second bell, the waker. It acts as a seesaw, throwing the ringer into death as it brings the listener into life. One of the doors on the way to Abhorsen's House is described as opening to its sound, and in later books it's mentioned that it's used to awaken bound Free Magic spirits. Sabriel's unlikely to use it.
Kibeth: The third bell, the walker. This bell has many sounds, and can both grant freedom of movement, to the dead, or remove it. It's described as troublesome, and tries to ring of its own accord, forcing the ringer to walk where she does not wish to.
Dyrim: The fourth bell, the Speaker. It can grant the power of speech, or remove it. In later books, it's mentioned but not shown that it can 'give forgotten words their meaning', so it may have other communication related ablities.
Belgaer: The fifth bell, the thinker. It can restore independent though, memories and "all the patterns of life" to the Dead, but it can erase these as well. In later books, it's used to release someone from a binding. Other necromancers have apparently used it against
Saraneth: The sixth, and deepest of all bells- the binder. It binds the target to the ringer's will.
Astarael: The seventh, and final bell. Weeper, the Banisher, when rung, casts all who hear it deep into Death, including the ringer- and so it's only used as a last resort, when the ringer has no other options. This bell will never be used without prior consultation with the mods.
Suite: Two floors in the Water Sector- Sabriel will feel a little more at ease if she's surrounded by running water, and two floors should be plenty of space.
In-Character Samples:
Third Person: One moment Sabriel's hands were pushing open a door, and in the next heartbeat she was sprawled out on the floor, dizzy and incoherent as she was hauled to her feet and bundled out the door to a waiting carriage. She wasn't entirely sure what the people that accompanied her were- they didn't seem completely human, but they also weren't Dead, and carried no trace of either Free or Charter magic.
At first, Sabriel had been relatively silent, listening as the Kedan started to explain, nodding and asking them to continue. As the exhaustion ebbed away she began to ask more- what did they mean by In Between? When could she get back, because she had something important to do. Sabriel could feel herself going thin lipped as she prepared to hear "That's the Emperor's business" for the twenty-third time, only to be assured that no time would pass in her own world. For a moment, Sabriel was completely still- and then her shoulders slumped and she exhaled. Time did pass differently between Life and Death, so the idea that time might not pass at all while trapped in between them did not seem altogether unbelievable.
Unfortunately, this was the last helpful bit of information the Kedan gave her, until they arrived at where they expected her to stay and showed her how to operate a strange device that was apparently a kind of highly advanced telephone, telegraph, and radio all in one.
Sabriel was relieved when they left, and walked toward the center of the room, ready to do what she'd been planning on doing ever since they'd told her that she was between Life and Death.
She closed her eyes and tried to force her spirit into Life. While the path into Death was something she'd had to learn, the path out was always instinctual- Life was where the living belonged, after all. Sabriel knew the path as well as she knew her own heartbeat.
It was like reaching for a familiar door only to find it replaced by a wall. Sabriel pressed her lips together, and tried again, and when that failed, she reached for Death.
But no unnatural chill overtook her body, and she was blocked once again, Sabriel felt the almost overwhelming urge to- to hit something, to scream, to cry, to give some voice to her frustration. Instead, she dropped into a chair and stared at a fountain. No pages of the Book of the Dead floated into her memory and no conversations with her father had ever addressed the possibility of something like this. Sabriel took a deep, unsteady breath and tried not to imagine what kind of snide remark Mogget would make about what a sorry excuse for an Abhorsen she was, to be trapped between Life and Death, and Touchstone... Sabriel almost wished he was with her, though she didn't know why. He knew more than her about the Old Kingdom- at least, as hit had been two hundred years ago- but he had no knowledge of Death, or what might lay between it and Life, though he would certainly be more pleasant company than Mogget.
She had entered the Old Kingdom alone, Sabriel reminded herself, and she had then found allies. She would be able to do the same here.
Network: So, I am trapped between Life and Death, and barred from reentering either. [The face on the screen is young- no more than eighteen- and deathly pale, save for a strange sunburn around her left eye. She pauses, draws herself up, and speaks with as much authority as she can muster, though Sabriel is hiding considerable exhaustion.]
If anyone here has some knowledge of necromancy, I wish to speak with them, as well as anyone who can tell me more about this place without insisting "That's the Emperor's business" [And Sabriel can't quite contain her exasperation as she utters that phrase.] , I would be grateful. I don't have much of the local currency, but I have some knowledge of Charter Magic-[And there's a long, hesitant pause before she begins to speak again, in a tone that's halfway between reluctant and reassuring.] And of necromancy- but I do not raise the Dead, I put them to rest. I am willing to trade my services in such for more information, particularly about whatever mechanism is preventing me from walking into Life and Death.
Name: Sarah
Age: Over 18!
Contact: sarahthesilent@plurk
Game Cast: N/A
Character Information:
Name: Sabriel
Canon: Sabriel, the first volume of the Old Kingdom book series.
Canon Point: As she and Touchstone open the doors to leave Holehallow.
Age: 18
Reference: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabriel and oldkingdomwiki.wikia.com/wiki/Sabriel_%28Book%29
Setting: Sabriel's canon is set in two countries- Ancelstierre, which resembles 1920's England, where technology holds sway, and the Old Kingdom, where magic, Free and Charter, rule. The two countries are divided by the Wall, a stone structure that runs along the entire border between the two countries.
Sabriel's story begins in northern Ancelstierre- the only place in the country where magic works, though it is not officially recognized. Still, most residents know that magic exists, and one boarding school for young ladies called Wyverley College unofficially tutors its students in the basics of sorcery (and swordsmanship) . Magic, however, is not the only thing from the Old Kingdom that enters it's southern neighbor. The Ancelstierrian army has fortified the entire border, up to a half mile from the wall for the entire length of it.
Free Magic and the Origins of the Charter In contrast to Charter Magic, which is more orderly, Free Magic is chaotic. Exactly what it is and what it can do isn't fully described in the books, but it is tied to the origins of the Charter
Long, LONG ago, the Charter didn't exist, and there was only Free Magic. Out of the countless Free Magic spirits and elementals that existed, nine were the most powerful, and most sapient. Of these nine Bright Shiners, the most powerful was Orannis the Destroyer, who wiped all life from six worlds (Or possibly from the same world six times, it isn't entirely clear.) In response, seven of the remaining eight bound Orannis (The eighth Bright Shiner, Yrael, remained neutral, until the Seven bound him to serve the Charter), and then created the Charter, pouring much of their being, and of many lesser elementals, into its creation, and for the most part ceased to exist as separate, aware beings after that. (With some exceptions that pop up in later books.) Five of the seven poured their power into four bloodlines- the Abhorsens (A bloodline with the ability to use both Charter and Free magic, and tasked with fighting the Dead) , the Royal Family (Self explanatory), the Clayr (All-female clan of seers, with the power to See many possible futures), and the Wallmakers (They make magical items), who later chose to put their power into the Great Charter Stones under the royal palace, and into the Wall itself. In Sabriel, the Stones, the Wall, and three remaining bloodlines are referred to as the Five Great Charters.
Nowadays, Free Magic is used mostly by necromancers and Free Magic sorcerers, and they and the few Free Magic spirits that remain are inherently enemies of the Charter.
The most powerful Free Magic sorcerors are necromancers- individuals who wield seven bells infused with Free Magic power, and have the ability to raise and control Dead spirits. Throughout the series, it's stated that Free Magic can accomplish other things as well- it's vaguely described, but Free Magic is apparently incredibly destructive, and can also be used to control minds.
The Charter To discuss the Old Kingdom, it helps to understand the Charter first. The Charter is the primary magical system of the Old Kingdom, and more than that, containing within its infinity of symbols descriptions of everything in the Old Kingdom, and has been described as the Old Kingdom's foundation- when the Charter is damaged, the Old Kingdom declines and begins to fall into chaos... And this has been happening since two hundred years before the events of Sabriel's book.
While members of the Abhorsen, Clayr, and Royal families have a greater aptitude for Charter Magic, than most, any living human can be baptized into the Charter, receiving a Charter Mark and the potential to learn how to use Charter Magic by reaching into the Charter and drawing forth the marks that describe the effect they want to create, and then speaking, writing, signing, or in some cases whistling or visualizing the marks to perform the spell. Charter mages can become corrupted- while the exact process isn't spelled out, it seems to involve falling to the temptation to use Free Magic. While simply using Free Magic won't corrupt an Abhorsen, they can become corrupted if they abuse their abilities.
Charter Stones act as conduits into the Charter, making it easier to cast Charter Magic. While the Great Stones are underneath the royal palace, there are lesser stones found throughout the kingdom- some in villages, others along major roads or occasionally in the wilderness. When intact, they resemble large stone monoliths with Charter Marks constantly running over their surface. Charter Stones can be broken by powerful necromancers, using a ritual that requires the blood and death of a Charter Mage. Lesser stones can be broken with the blood of normal mages, but to damage one of the Great stones requires the blood of a member of the Abhorsen, Clayr, or Royal families.
Broken stones make Charter Magic difficult to cast- Sabriel describes it as feeling like somthing was holding her jaw shut as she tried to speak the words of a spell- and instill a sense of nausea and sickness in those who come near them. Broken Stones create paths between Life and Death, and the areas surrounding them are often overrun by Dead who take advantage of this easy path into Life.
The Old Kingdom: Is in a state of anarchy. Two hundred years ago the Royal Family was murdered, and two of the Great Charter Stones were broken with their blood. For a hundred and eighty years there was a regency, but with the death of the last regent in a fire that destroyed much of the Royal Palace, anarchy has reigned for the last twenty, and each year, more Charter Stones are broken and villages abandoned, and the two thirds of Belisaere, the capital of the country, have been abandoned to the Dead, with the remaining third protected only by the aqueducts.
Death A kind of parallel realm, Death is an endlessly wide river with no shores that flows through nine different precincts, each containing different dangers. It's not exactly the true afterlife- if anything like that exists, it lies beyond the Ninth Gate, beyond which nothing can return. Necromancers can learn to send their spirits, though not their bodies, into Death.
The Dead Some spirits attempt to cling to life, and fight the current of Death. All Dead require the life-force of the living to remain in life, and must kill to obtain it. While the Dead come in many forms, from shambling corpses to spirits shattered into a hundred pieces with each fragment placed into the body of a crow, to flaming monsters with bodies made of Free Magic, bog clay, and human blood, at their core they are all spirits who refuse to pass on, and steal life to do so. Weaker Dead often inhabit corpses, and have some vulnerability to fire and sunlight, though more powerful spirits do not, appearing as pitch-black shadows with flaming eyes.
All Dead have a vulnerability to running water- the deeper and swifter the better. Little trickles, or large amounts of shallow and stagnant water will not stop even the weakest Dead, but even the greatest cannot cross a river. While earth taken from a grave can negate this weakness, any other attempt to cross by the Dead will result in their physical forms being destroyed and their spirits being forced into Death.
Kerrigor The Greatest of the Greater Dead. Responsible for the damage to the Charter, and the decline of the Old Kingdom into anarchy. Was once the Royal Prince, Rogirrek, until he traded his life for power, and lured his mother and sisters to the Great Charter stones, killing all three of them and succeeding in breaking two of the stones. Has hidden his true body, and cannot be forced beyond the Ninth Gate until it is found and destroyed. Trapped in Death for nearly two hundred years by successive generations of Abhorsens, he has recently returned to Life.
Abhorsen As stated above, Abhorsens are tasked with the destruction of the Dead and Free Magic spirits, using both Charter and Free Magic. The bells they wield are unique, containing both Free and Charter magic, unlike the bells of ordinary necromancers, that only contain Free Magic. The family has a house, called Abhorsen's House, (The bloodline is not big on creative naming) which is located on an island in the middle of the biggest river in the Kingdom and heavily warded against the Dead. All members of this bloodline have dark hair and eyes, and unnaturally pale skin.
Clayr A bloodline of women with clairvoyant powers, the Clayr are the most numerous bloodline at this canon point, numbering in the thousands. The Clayr live a communal lifestyle at a massive complex built mostly inside of two peaks, called the Clayr's Glacier after the glacier that lies between them, and rarely venture outside of it. While individual Clayr often have fragmented visions, they must gather together in larger groups at their Observatory to truly focus their sight. In addition to seeing the future, they also possess the largest library in the Old Kingdom. The Clayr have brown skin, blonde to light brown hair, blue or green eyes, and are almost always female.
Sabriel's Father The previous Abhorsen. Trapped in Death, he send his bells and sword to Sabriel, spurring her to journey into the Old Kingdom to find his body and retrieve his spirit, kicking off the events of the book.
Mogget An immensely powerful and ancient Free Magic spirit, bound to serve the Abhorsen bloodline, currently in the shape of a small white cat. Is revealed in later books to be the eighth Bright Shiner, Yrael.
Touchstone A young man, trapped in a magical state of suspension for two hundred years before Sabriel freed him. Is actually Kerrigor's half brother, and the last surviving member of the royal bloodline.
Personality: Sabriel's first where she isn't a newborn features her reviving a rabbit from the dead, and then playing the role of stern prefect to the little girl who snuck out to chase her pet... While conveniently letting her get back inside school grounds without any trouble. Sabriel has a drive to help people in need, even if she has other things she should be doing; after the canon point I've picked for her, Sabriel is only dissuaded from putting her plans to rescue her father on hold to save some children being used as bait for the Dead by being reminded that they're currently outnumbered.
Sabriel's five years were spent with her father and a band of travelers, before her father deposited her at Wyverley College, a school for 'young ladies of quality' in the norther part of Ancelstierre. Sabriel spent her next thirteen years at the school. During that time, Sabriel led a reasonably happy life- while her affinity for Death and the Dead, and her knowledge of necromancy may have occasionally unsettled her teachers and classmates, but she was generally well liked, and trusted enough by her teachers to become a prefect.
For someone her age, Sabriel has a surprising amount of experience in dealing with danger- she's been traveling in and out of Death since she was twelve, and can come across as surprisingly mature in some ways- She's fought and defeated a handful of Dead that managed to get as far south as her school, and the only characters to match or exceed her knowledge of necromancy are her father and Mogget. Sabriel is perfectly willing to take charge and solve problems herself, and isn't short on self confidence- or courage. Even after realizing that something or someone extremely powerful is sending the Dead after her, she carries on with her plan to rescue her father, heading to his body even though she knows she's probably walking into a trap. Her sense of right and wrong is firm, and she won't hesitate when it comes to helping people in trouble, and she definitely derives satisfaction from helping people- part of the reason she revives Touchstone immediately rather than wait and come back to help him later is that it's the first problem with a straightforward, immediate solution that she's faced since she crossed the Wall.
Having spent much of her life at a school for "young ladies of quality", Sabriel has received a firm grounding in social etiquette, though she tends to apply her lessons for dealing with troublesome servants to people who she dislikes, rather than her social inferiors- She's polite to almost everyone she meets, and prefers polite diplomacy to physical or verbal confrontation- though she will not shy away from it she sees something obviously wrong or harmful happening.
When she's frustrated, Sabriel stays polite at first, but gradually grows more snippy, sarcastic, and condescending, speaking to to Touchstone as though he's twelve before finally snapping and harshly telling him that she wants a useful friend, not a fawning servant. Sabriel doesn't seem quite sure what to make of Touchstone- she hasn't had much experience with men her own age, though she admits to having 'curiously fond feelings', that past her canon point develop into a crush, and eventually, love.
Sabriel is still a teenaged girl , and before her sudden journey into the Old Kingdom she was perfectly happy to do normal teenage girl things- sneaking out to see movies and drinking brandy with her friends (and regretting it.) In some ways, she's still naive- Before she entered the Old Kingdom, she had no experience with human death, and she didn't realize how paranoid the soldiers at the perimeter were about using magic until she nearly got herself into a great deal of trouble by trying to play a trick on a pompous soldier. It's only after being chased by a powerful Dead creature that she realizes that all the Dead she'd faced so far had been severely weakened by being so far south, and she doesn't know nearly as much about Charter Magic or her own father as she thought she did- and that her near-total ignorance about the Old Kingdom is a bigger problem than she thought it would be.
Sabriel's father is her only living family, and despite only seeing him one a month, (With actual physical visits twice yearly) she seems to be closer to him than anyone else, discussing not only magic and her studies with him, but also her hopes and dreams. Still, she never realized that Abhorsen was his title, not his name- or that he wasn't simply a necromancer who'd chosen to use his power for good, or how unusual it was for the two of them to be capable of wielding both Free and Charter magic. Still, she's willing to head into extremely dangerous circumstances for his sake
While Sabriel denies that her father is truly dead and insists she can still return him to life and corrects Touchstone and Mogget when they call her Abhorsen, some small, unconscious part of her seems to have accepted the truth- her father is dead, and she must take up his work. Consciously, she insists she's only acting as a substitute until her father is rescued- and that she's only out to save her father, not the kingdom. Shortly after the canon point I'm taking her from, she identifies herself as Abhorsen to a group of villagers who are troubled by the Dead before assisting them, though she doesn't seem to truly consider herself to be an Abhorsen yet.
Sabriel's attitude towards her abilities seems somewhat ambivalent- when she's considering moving south to go to university in Ancelstierre, she sees losing her access to magic as a loss- and losing her connection to Death as a benefit. She's still frightened by the grimoire she learned necromancy from, though she's still willing to read it again. Sabriel doesn't shy away from journeying into dead when she finds it neccessary, and uses necromancy instead of Charter magic as her first resort when dealing with the Dead- in any other circumstance, where force is required, she relies on her skill with a blade and Charter magic, rather than turning her bells on the living, and generally preferring to counter and incapacitate rather than seriously harm.
[In Tu Shanshu] Sabriel's initial reaction to being trapped will be frustration and exasperation- she's been traveling between Life and Death since she was twelve, so why can't she leave a place that's between the two of them? After getting over her initial shock, she's likely to try to learn more about her new surroundings, to find a way out... While probably being sidetracked by her desire to help people in trouble, and learning not to be immediately hostile to any undead she encounters. It might take a few days for her to finally understand that nothing from her world has followed her onto the turtle.
Appearance: Sabriel's described as a tall for a woman, with black hair cut into a bob and skin that's a shade too pale to be completely natural. I'm using Shea Pruegger as a PB along with fanart by this artist.
Abilities: Charter Magic- Sabriel can use Charter Marks to various effects- from shooting magical projectiles and creating shields to simple stuff like making nearby small objects appear in her hands, to pulling water out of the air or summoning wind. While she's powerful in terms of raw potential, coming in first in her class at school, her training so far has actually been fairly limited; when she finds a Charter Magic spellbook in her father's house, she's realizes she's only familiar with less than a fourth of the marks it describes.
Necromancy- I'll discuss the specific powers of the bells in the inventory section, but even without instruments, Sabriel can exert a limited amount of control over the Dead by creating music- singing, whistling, clapping her hands or stamping her feet.
Death Sense- While Sabriel will lose her ability to enter Death upon entrance to the game, she will retain her ability to feel when people and animals die near her, detect the presence of corpses, undead, ghosts, and whether people people have died at a particular location. (The more deaths, the stronger the impression made.) She's also able to determine how long a corpse has been dead simply by looking at it. There will be a permissions post for this.
Swordsmanship- Sabriel is competent in swordfighting, and thanks to her school's unusual curriculum, is used to fighting in a chainmail hauberk.
Inventory: Mail armor that's made of a lightweight but very strong ceramic, and a helmet made of the same material, and the clothes
Abhorsen's sword- An ancient longsword with a bronze hilt and crossguard, and a dull emerald in the pommel. Made by the Wallmakers more than a thousand years ago, it's still in remarkably good condition, and imbued with spells that make it a powerful weapon against the Dead.
The seven bells of necromancy- Seven silver bells with mahogany handles containing both Free and Charter Magic. I intend to use a permissions post for them, and Sabriel's death sense.
Ranna: The first, and smallest bell, the sleeper. It sends those who hear it into slumber.
Mosrael: The second bell, the waker. It acts as a seesaw, throwing the ringer into death as it brings the listener into life. One of the doors on the way to Abhorsen's House is described as opening to its sound, and in later books it's mentioned that it's used to awaken bound Free Magic spirits. Sabriel's unlikely to use it.
Kibeth: The third bell, the walker. This bell has many sounds, and can both grant freedom of movement, to the dead, or remove it. It's described as troublesome, and tries to ring of its own accord, forcing the ringer to walk where she does not wish to.
Dyrim: The fourth bell, the Speaker. It can grant the power of speech, or remove it. In later books, it's mentioned but not shown that it can 'give forgotten words their meaning', so it may have other communication related ablities.
Belgaer: The fifth bell, the thinker. It can restore independent though, memories and "all the patterns of life" to the Dead, but it can erase these as well. In later books, it's used to release someone from a binding. Other necromancers have apparently used it against
Saraneth: The sixth, and deepest of all bells- the binder. It binds the target to the ringer's will.
Astarael: The seventh, and final bell. Weeper, the Banisher, when rung, casts all who hear it deep into Death, including the ringer- and so it's only used as a last resort, when the ringer has no other options. This bell will never be used without prior consultation with the mods.
Suite: Two floors in the Water Sector- Sabriel will feel a little more at ease if she's surrounded by running water, and two floors should be plenty of space.
In-Character Samples:
Third Person: One moment Sabriel's hands were pushing open a door, and in the next heartbeat she was sprawled out on the floor, dizzy and incoherent as she was hauled to her feet and bundled out the door to a waiting carriage. She wasn't entirely sure what the people that accompanied her were- they didn't seem completely human, but they also weren't Dead, and carried no trace of either Free or Charter magic.
At first, Sabriel had been relatively silent, listening as the Kedan started to explain, nodding and asking them to continue. As the exhaustion ebbed away she began to ask more- what did they mean by In Between? When could she get back, because she had something important to do. Sabriel could feel herself going thin lipped as she prepared to hear "That's the Emperor's business" for the twenty-third time, only to be assured that no time would pass in her own world. For a moment, Sabriel was completely still- and then her shoulders slumped and she exhaled. Time did pass differently between Life and Death, so the idea that time might not pass at all while trapped in between them did not seem altogether unbelievable.
Unfortunately, this was the last helpful bit of information the Kedan gave her, until they arrived at where they expected her to stay and showed her how to operate a strange device that was apparently a kind of highly advanced telephone, telegraph, and radio all in one.
Sabriel was relieved when they left, and walked toward the center of the room, ready to do what she'd been planning on doing ever since they'd told her that she was between Life and Death.
She closed her eyes and tried to force her spirit into Life. While the path into Death was something she'd had to learn, the path out was always instinctual- Life was where the living belonged, after all. Sabriel knew the path as well as she knew her own heartbeat.
It was like reaching for a familiar door only to find it replaced by a wall. Sabriel pressed her lips together, and tried again, and when that failed, she reached for Death.
But no unnatural chill overtook her body, and she was blocked once again, Sabriel felt the almost overwhelming urge to- to hit something, to scream, to cry, to give some voice to her frustration. Instead, she dropped into a chair and stared at a fountain. No pages of the Book of the Dead floated into her memory and no conversations with her father had ever addressed the possibility of something like this. Sabriel took a deep, unsteady breath and tried not to imagine what kind of snide remark Mogget would make about what a sorry excuse for an Abhorsen she was, to be trapped between Life and Death, and Touchstone... Sabriel almost wished he was with her, though she didn't know why. He knew more than her about the Old Kingdom- at least, as hit had been two hundred years ago- but he had no knowledge of Death, or what might lay between it and Life, though he would certainly be more pleasant company than Mogget.
She had entered the Old Kingdom alone, Sabriel reminded herself, and she had then found allies. She would be able to do the same here.
Network: So, I am trapped between Life and Death, and barred from reentering either. [The face on the screen is young- no more than eighteen- and deathly pale, save for a strange sunburn around her left eye. She pauses, draws herself up, and speaks with as much authority as she can muster, though Sabriel is hiding considerable exhaustion.]
If anyone here has some knowledge of necromancy, I wish to speak with them, as well as anyone who can tell me more about this place without insisting "That's the Emperor's business" [And Sabriel can't quite contain her exasperation as she utters that phrase.] , I would be grateful. I don't have much of the local currency, but I have some knowledge of Charter Magic-[And there's a long, hesitant pause before she begins to speak again, in a tone that's halfway between reluctant and reassuring.] And of necromancy- but I do not raise the Dead, I put them to rest. I am willing to trade my services in such for more information, particularly about whatever mechanism is preventing me from walking into Life and Death.
