Xiomara Vitellus: Human Bloodrager

[jrsey]

Xiomara Vitellus

^{Human Bloodrager}

^🎵🎵🎵

Xiomara Vitellus was born into a lower-middle-class family in Calmere, Salamis. Her parents, Benton and Elena Vitellus, were older when she was born: they had tried to have children for many years, but failed. As their only and much-wanted child, she received a decent education and the best opportunities they could offer. Benton owned Vitellus Manufacturing & Supply: a mid-sized shop that built mechanical parts and sold them to locomotive manufacturers. Elena helped run the administrative side of the engineering business and managed the family. The shop did well, but Benton's gambling habit squandered much of the Vitellus' income. Thanks to Elena's efforts to manage the money, however, they did live a relatively comfortable life - even if there were some lean times.

Xiomara grew up helping her father in the shop. She never quite had the mind for engineering, but she applied herself dutifully to her tasks. While the design of schematics escaped her, she could wield a hammer with the best of them. She spent much time in the forge, helping the blacksmiths craft metal. She was also skilled in helping her mother run the business: writing contracts, negotiating with vendors, and managing the shop's finances. As she grew up, she found that she enjoyed the work of running a manufacturing business.

When Xiomara was in her twenties, the simmering tension between Salamis and Cyril boiled over. The manufacturing companies throughout Calmere were strongly encouraged to shift their production of transportation technology to war technology. On principle, Benton refused to comply. He continued to build mechanical parts, but there was no market for them. Worse still, the Vitellus name was associated with cowardice, they were shamed as unpatriotic, and rumors swirled about possible collusion with Cyril. They lost many contracts and very few wished to do business with them.

As the shop hemorrhaged money for two years, Benton's gambling increased. Elena and Xiomara made a valiant effort to keep the shop going, but their efforts were futile. The family gradually slid into poverty and had to close the shop, sell their home, and move into a tight apartment in Calmere's slums. Elena took a job as a housemaid for an elderly family friend, but her income was not enough to stem the effects of Benton's spending. Benton and Elena argued whenever they were near each other. Home became a toxic place that Xiomara avoided.

More than anything, though, she was angry. She was angry at her father for putting them in this position. She was angry at her mother for refusing to take action sooner. And, though she would not admit it, she was angry at herself for not taking a stronger stand when the call to aid the war effort was given. Principles were important, but one has to live. The stress was too much. Xiomara became bitter; her anger permeated everything she did. She desperately wanted to move out of the apartment she shared with her parents, but it proved difficult: nobody wanted to hire a Vitellus.

Desperate for coin and a way out, Xiomara had few options. Whoring was out of the question. Stealing was something she was not willing to do. She decided to reinvent herself. She adopted the alias "Calla" and infiltrated Calmere's seedy underbelly. She started running errands for the loan sharks to whom her father was indebted, served as a security detail for-hire, and took odd jobs as she could find them. The work was hard, but her years in the factory had prepared her body for the work: she was strong, tough, and capable. Xiomara eventually moved out of her parents' apartment and distanced herself from them. For years, she continued in this way.

The more she saw of Calmere's underbelly and the more unsavory things she had to do, the deeper the well of her bitterness grew. While running a job for a small gang boss one day, things went south fast. A major scuffle broke out during a routine job and the loan shark's brother was slain. Xiomara would have lost her life, as well, were it not for the anger-fueled rage that overtook her. When the red haze cleared, she was surrounded by mutilated bodies and blood dripped from her club. She stared in muted horror at the gruesome scene and realized that she would be blamed for this. She had to go.

Taking nothing but her money and the clothes on her back, she left Calmere. She didn't tell her parents where she was going. Not only would it be dangerous for her to contact them, but the slaughter she committed terrified her. Who knows what she was capable of, were she angry or desperate enough? Her parents had disappointed her deeply, each in their own way, and she deeply resented them for everything that had happened. What if she were to hurt them? However she felt about them, she didn't want to hurt them. Clearly, though, she was capable of extreme violence. The best way to protect them from herself was to leave.

Xiomara wandered Salamis, taking odd jobs under various aliases, unmoored and purposeless, hoping one day she could make sense of what was happening to her.

 

Boss (Former Name: Aguila)

A grey Percheron-style war horse that Xiomara acquired from a disabled soldier who could no longer ride him. Originally named Aguila, she started calling him "Boss" after seeing his headstrong, fearless personality. Xiomara respects his independent spirit and trusts his instincts, despite the trouble they cause her sometimes.

Boss stands 17 hands high and weighs 3,000 pounds kitted out in his breastplate barding. He is generally easygoing, calm, and unshakeable - unless someone tries to get him to do something he doesn't like. He has thrown Xiomara twice: once in the beginning when he wasn't ready to let her ride him yet and a second time when she forgot to brush his coat the previous day. He can be aloof with strangers, but tolerates additional riders if Xiomara allows it. He has a soft spot for children and loves being pampered.

 

 

 

 

Father: Benton Vitellus

Benton grew up in Calmere, Salamis. Former owner of Vitellus Manufacturing & Supply in Calmere, a mid-size company that produced mechanical parts for steam locomotives. In his younger years, he was kind, generous, and affable. He was well-known in the locomotive profession. A visionary in his own right, he developed a smithing technique that efficiently crafted quality parts from metal.

As a young apprentice, he met Elena while accompanying his mentor on a trip to Tarsis. He was taken by her charm, wit, and beauty. They married quickly and settled down in Calmere. His gambling habits were not as obvious then; he was able to hide them from Elena during the early years of their marriage. As their attempts to have children continued to fail over the years, his gambling intensified as a means of coping with his great sadness. When the bill collectors came knocking on his door, he could no longer hide his vice from Elena.

For many years, he abstained from gambling. He started his own manufacturing shop and managed to buy a comfortable house in a safe part of the city. Xiomara was born a few years later. The stress of running a business and supporting a family spurred a desire for escape. Gambling slowly crept back into his life. The bills were barely paid; the rest of the family's income went towards supporting his habit.

When the conflict between Salamis and Cyril escalated to battle and Calmere's manufacturers were asked to produce war materials, Benton refused. Not only did he not want to contribute towards killing others, but Elena was from Cyril. Despite all of their struggles, he loved Elena. He saw how the conflict pained her. He couldn't bring himself to create machinery that would kill her people.

With his refusal came consequences: he lost everything. Now living in a cramped apartment with Elena, their relationship is strained, his gambling has him deep in debt, and his debtors are applying pressure. He feels guilty for essentially ruining his family's life and misses Xiomara, but he understands why she doesn't visit much anymore. He knows she is angry, and he deserves all of her ire. Life has dampened his spirit and he is depressed, argumentative, and hopeless. He exists alongside Elena and they are more roommates than a married couple.

 

Mother: Elena Vitellus

Elena grew up in Fox Hollow, Cyril. She has not shared much about her family and for good reason: magic runs deep in her family, but it brought them nothing but trouble. The magic that courses through her family's bloodline is strong and chaotic. There were stories that her grandfather was a great sorcerer, but she never met the man. All she saw was the devastation it brought upon her family. Most of her aunts, uncles, cousins, her grandparents, and her father all died, each of them as a result of their powers in one way or another. The Watchtowers were a constant threat. Her mother showed no signs of magic, which helped them survive.

When she was 16, she left for Tarsis to seek a new life without the burden of her family's past coloring others' perceptions of her. She worked as a housemaid for a prominent merchant family for several years. While running an errand for the family, she met Benton. He was handsome, fun, and wonderfully normal. They married quickly and settled down in Calmere.

The years they unsuccessfully tried for children were difficult. When she eventually discovered the depths of Benton's gambling addiction, she was devastated. She did not have many options, though, so she decided to stay and make it work. They eventually had Xiomara and built a thriving business. But as the years wore on, she saw restlessness in her husband...and their diminishing income despite the profitability of the business.

Elena understood why Benton made the decisions that he did when it came to the war effort and appreciated his thinking of her, but she was greatly saddened by the situation. For all of the struggles they had, she loves Benton for all that he has done for her and the normalcy he offers. She knows she has tolerated things that she shouldn't have and understands Xiomara's anger, but she does not explain herself. In her mind, any divulgence of weakness or discussion of the past is dangerous. She focuses fully on the present.

She loves Xiomara and misses her terribly, but believes she is blissfully ignorant of larger issues at play. Xiomara's burgeoning anger are concerning: the volatility of her emotions remind Elena of her magically gifted family members. As yet, Xiomara hasn't shown any signs of magic, for which Elena is thankful. But the possibility still nags at the back of her mind.

Edited April 21 by jrsey
Added details on Boss. (see edit history)

[jrsey]

Xiomara Vitellus' Character Sheet

Edited February 24 by jrsey (see edit history)

[jrsey]

Xiomara Vitellus
 

---

AC: 18 | HP: 52/52 | TEMP HP: 0 | Move: 30'

Init: +6 | SAVES: Fortitude: +8, Reflex: +4, Will: +5

Passive: Perception: 15

---

Actions.

'Thoughts.'

"Words."

 

 

OOC

Movement:

Action:

Bonus Action:

Reaction:

 

Edited March 1 by jrsey (see edit history)

[jrsey]

Xiomara Vitellus

---

AC: 20

- Blur: 20% miss chance

- Enemies in my threatened area: DC to cast spells defensively increases by 2

HP: 60/52 | TEMP HP: 8 | Move: 30'

Init: +6 | SAVES: Fortitude: +10, Reflex: +4, Will: +7, +2 bonus on saving throws against spells that I or an ally casts

Passive: Perception: 15

---

Posting template: Bloodrage w/Blur and Shield.

'Thoughts.'

"Words."

 

OOC

Free Action:

Swift Action:

Move Action:

Standard Action: Melee attack: X to hit, Y slashing damage.

Full Action:

 

[jrsey]

Boss

---

AC: 20 | HP: 19/19 | TEMP HP: 0 | Move: 35' with barding (primary), 50ft without barding

Init: +6 | SAVES: Fortitude: +13, Reflex: +11, Will: +6

Passive: Low-light vision, Scent

---

Actions.

'Thoughts.'

"Neigh."

 

 

OOC

Movement:

Action:

Bonus Action:

Reaction:

 

Edited April 24 by jrsey (see edit history)