Ondine (Selkie)
Ondine is a Seelie Selkie Wilder and leader of the Rocky Shore Motley of Point Reyes in the Kingdom of Pacifica.
Overview
Ondine serves as leader of the Selkies of Rocky Shore. She guides them with fairness and wisdom. Tall and graceful, she looks the part of a gentle queen. However, because the selkies do not adhere to a hierarchical social structure, instead considering everyone completely equal, her role is only titular. The others turn to her for guidance but she wields no authority over them.
She is proud to be a selkie and strongly believes in the preservation of the selkie line and tradition. She established her freehold at Rocky Shore in order to teach selkies about their heritage and to encourage selkie solidarity.
When a selkie dies, their skin falls away from them. If they are a grump, they have usually made arrangements for the skin to passed on to one of their kinain or they have named an heir who will choose the next recipient of their skin. Whichever kinain receives it will acquire some knowledge of the selkies, but not necessarily an understanding of the importance of the ancestral inheritance.
Sometimes other Kithain steal selkie skins for the Glamour they hold, for the skin's resale value, or for their own perverse pleasure. Unseelie have been known to kill a selkie for their skin. Ondine and her oathmates do what they can to fight this horrible practice and retrieve stolen skins. They keep constant vigil for selkies who are dying or who have died with no heir. She has acquired enough of a reputation that many seek her out. She accepts the skins of these selkies and finds worthy kinain upon whom to bestow them. Then, she teaches the chosen selkie fledge why they should be proud to be a selkie and what they can do to strengthen the selkie race.
Ondine has acquired Queen Aeron's trust and respect. She keeps the queen informed about happenings on the northern coastline and advises her on matters that pertain to the selkies. The queen, understanding the significance of a selkie death, notifies Ondine if she hears of one. Many selkies live up and down the Pacific coast and although Ondine does not know them all, she has established contacts, such as the queen, who keep her up-to-date on their activities. Her good deeds are well known among her kith.
Image
Ondine's lithe figure moves like seaweed; smooth and supple. She wears loose-fitting shifts of gauze in natural colors, the long sleeves reaching down to her webbed fingers. Her thin face is sculpted in symmetrical lines with an upturned nose, high cheekbones, and square chin. In her extraordinarily large eyes, watery hues swim around each other; the greens and blues of the world's seas. Like the other selkies, her skin has a healthy tan and always feel slightly damp to the touch. Her lips are full and expressive; her smile can melt hearts and soothe discordant minds.
Personal
Ondine feels great responsibility for the entire selkie race. With all the violence and treachery directed at them, she has decided to stand up and fight the perpetrators. Her kith has as much right to grow and prosper as any other. She would die to protect a selkie skin, which in her mind is the most valuable treasure a selkie may ever hold. In her opinion, when she rescues a skin fro the thieves who stole it, she is freeing one of her brothers or sisters from deadly kidnappers.
Stats
Court: Seelie
Legacies: Paladin/Outlaw
Seeming: Wilder
Kith: Selkie
Motley: Point Reyes
Physical: Strength 2, Dexterity 5, Stamina 4
Social: Charisma 5 (+2 vs. opposite sex), Manipulation 4, Appearance 5
Mental: Perception 5, Intelligence 4, Wits 5
Talents: Alertness 3, Athletics 5 (swimming), Empathy 4, Expression 3, Kenning 4, Seduction 4
Skills: Leadership 4, Melee 3, Survival 3
Knowledges: Medicine 3, Mythlore 4
Arts: Primal 5, Soothsay 5
Realms: Actor 2, Fae 2, Nature 4, Prop 3, Scene 4
Backgrounds: Chimera 2, Contacts 5, Gremayre 4, Holdings 5
Glamour: 9
Banality: 5
Willpower: 6