Added to the queue.

Aaryne sighed softly and let himself melt against his husband and just... be held. He didn't want to think about what the absence of this would feel like, so he didn't. For now, at least, he allowed himself to just soak up the perfection of this warmth, this care, this love. He could feel the gentle, steady thrum of Janne's heartbeat where his forehead rested pressed lightly into the curve of his neck and the heavy pressure of his love's hand right on the knot between his shoulderblades helped bring him right down to calm.

Night, he could rest here, like this, forever.

His breath came out in a slow, steady sigh as Janne's strong, nimble fingers found the tight spots in his neck again and began to knead gently. It was so easy, leaning on Janne like this - letting him soothe his stress and chase away the fears and anxieties lurking just around the corner.

A smile curved his lips and he pressed it gently against the steady thrum of Janne's pulse in a sweet kiss. "Well, we don't have to stay on the couch. We do have a bedroom, and a bed to share." Actually, they had two, but Aaryne rarely used "his" room. It existed almost exclusively for show, to help maintain the illusion that they were a far more distant kind of family rather than the true nature of their relationship. They didn't often have strangers in their home to where it was necessary to play up that illusion in such an intimate space, but they were nothing if not careful - and so the preparation was necessary. After all, the girls did have friends and they were at that age for sleepovers and girlish entertainments. No one needed a child wondering to their parents about how one of their friend's "Uncle Aaryne" went to sleep in the same room as their father.

Hopefully, though... hopefully soon that wouldn't be a precaution they'd have to take anymore.

Aaryne breathed deeply and settled into his husband's affection and his care. Whether they stayed out in the living room or transported to the bedroom, he would remain in constant contact with him throughout the night, snuggled close and positioned so that he could hear or feel his heartbeat at all times. He would memorize that sound, the feel of that steady thrum. He would align the rhythm of his own heart to that beat, and carry the song with him into the trial he head ahead of him.

But that was for tomorrow and the frightful days that follow. For tonight... for tonight it was just them, and Aaryne would treasure every second.

It was mid-morning by the time Thyra arrived at Kirisi-Marja’s door and she’d been awake for hours.

Being the Seer of Avorla would have kept her busy all on its own, with long office hours and interacting with people that she could barely stand. Outside of Signe, she was neutral on the rest of the District Court. The people who weren’t terrified of her just didn’t trust her. Thyra had made peace with it, but it made it harder to help them from time to time. Some people would never be convinced that the Black Widow wasn’t out to steal their damned memories at every turn.

And then there was the Exchange.

Most people who came to her on Exchange business accepted her work, but they also didn’t trust her. They had too many questions for their own good. Or they wanted to know if she’d tutor them in the arts of the Hourglass. She started with a laugh and a polite refusal, but a couple of people had to learn the error of their ways through a small, mostly harmless induction to her skills. They usually stopped asking after that.

She’d been planning this day for a week and nothing was going to stop her from seeing her favorite small person. Thryra never saw herself as a maternal woman, but Eliisabet Karjalainen defied most of Thyra’s issues with children. She was cute as a button, funny, and a great conversationalist. She was intelligent and caring, and everything that most Glacians had bred out of them by the time they were ready for their Birthright Ceremony. Few good things came out of the shithole she was born in, but Little Bit was definitely one of them.

Also, her mother was drop-dead gorgeous and Thyra had a weakness for Glacian women.

She opened the door to the house and heard mother and daughter getting ready. Little Bit was probably asking for pigtails. Thyra grinned, took a deep breath and…

“Rihland’s bestest aunt has arrived! Where are my hugs?!” she bellowed.

No one would ever accuse Thyra Danielsen of being a joyous woman, but this Karjalainens made her smile. She set down the bottle of mead and waited for Kirsi-Marja to come out.

Ready for review!

Character Name: Misha Petrescu
Nicknames: Missi, Isha
Age and Birth Year:  35, born 159 AP
Race: Short-Lived,  Dena Nehelian
Caste:  Black Widow
Birth Territory: Dena Nehele
Home Territory: Dena Nehele

Birthright Jewel:  Uncut Rose
Offering Jewel:  Broken Cut Opal

Role: Mind Healer
Faction:


Play By: Carrie-Ann Moss
Distinguishing Features:
A pale face with pale eyes dressed in pale clothes.. And the greatest splash of color she wears is usually her hair.  She likes this.  It tends to make her stand out and it commands attention from those she is working with. 



Personality:
Misha is a Black Widow, a caste known for being passionate, grumbly, and dangerous.  She is passionate - in an oddly dispassionate way.  She is extremely passionate about fixing the minds of those that need it.   She is passionate about the mind and how it works - but she believes that such work should be approached with an analytical and logical approach.  She views herself as a scientist.

She is devoted when it comes to anything about her work, her science.  She wants others to view her memoirs, notes, and journals with the appropriate respect due a scientific mind's work - and thus she strives to ensure that all traces of unacceptable emotional input are carefully set aside for digestion later.

Most of these bottled up emotions are released when she beds one of her sexual partners.  These people are well aware she is not as cold as she appears to be - however they are also aware that she keeps them at arm's length in an effort to not allow emotions to develop that she cannot reciprocate.  (Or won't allow to develop, but really, who's being too picky about words?)

Few have seen her truly lose her temper, but those who have witnessed it know that it is most likely to appear when she feels her work, or her patients, are threatened.  In that order.  Her fury gives justification to the old adages about females and fury - and she does her best to keep control of any situation so as to avoid such 'outbursts' from becoming necessary in the first place.


Likes:

• 1. Organization - Minds are actually like well organized shelves, most of the time, with little labels that show what subject links to another.  At least to her mind's eye.  For her to see clutter or disorganization is actually frustrating, and pricks her instincts to fix things according to how they should be... or how they would be most efficient.
  
• 2.  Food - She comes across as a very serious sort of person... but those who stick around long enough learn quickly that food will bring out the more fun loving side of herself.  She adores food, and loves experiencing new tastes and dishes.  If only she could cook worth a damn...
• 3.  Cats - There is something regal and perfect about cats.  Anyone who doesn't like cats is considerably worth less of her time, especially if they say so out loud.  Cats are the most wonderful animals in all the realms, and cats alone demand that you be worthy of their attentions when it comes to animals - thus they are obviously BETTER.

Dislikes:

• 1.  Tardiness - specifically, when people don't have it.  Someone who makes an appointment and is late tends to drive her insane.  If something makes HER late, she tends to lose control of her temper and...make a mess.  Also a problem.
• 2.  Romance - Sex is one thing.  Sex makes sense, and sex has a biological function that can release endorphins as well as chemical reactions within the brain.  There's also the tidbit about reproduction and increasing the population - something she's not eager to contribute to though she does enjoy the 'practice' sessions.  Romance, on the other hand, leads to nothing but trouble.    Romance causes people to do stupid things for even more stupid reasons - and she often mutters about how the Darkness should save her from love.
• 3. Crowds - A small group of people can do very good things, or enjoy a bit of socialization.  Large crowds, however, can be... unpredictable.  They can also swing wildly out of control, burn down buildings, and act against their own self interests through the simple sway of emotional excess.  Crowds also tend to smell horrible.  And really, that's almost the greater sin.

Fears:

• 1.  Mind Delvers -  She is an excellent Mind Healer and she knows it.  But because of this exact skill, she knows exactly how terrible Mind Delvers can be.  She knows exactly how much damage can be made before the mind breaks beyond repair - and she is terrified that someday a talented Delver will find their way into her head and break her beyond repair.
• 2.  Misdiagnosing - She's a Healer of the Mind.  She's quite good at it, and she believes she maintains a rational amount of pride in her work.  But one of her greatest fears is that she will misdiagnose a patient - and do more harm than good.  She has been known to take more time than usual with unusual cases due to wanting to ensure that she doesn't allow her pride to put a patient at risk.
• 3.  Crisis of Intelligence - Intelligent, witty, and decisive; these are the traits that most would attribute to her.  However, she often worries that she is not nearly as intelligent or decisive as she should be for whichever job finds its way to her desk.  She does her best to not allow herself to fall prey to these (obviously irrational) insecurities... but frustratingly she finds that she cant seem to put these insecurities to rest.

Craft Strengths:

• 1.  Mind Healing - there is something about the way she looks at you that makes it clear she is able to see how the mind works and how to fix the spots that are broken.  The mind fascinates her and draws her.  The more wounded the mind the more compelled she feels to intervene and repair the mind in question.
• 2.  Compulsion - when a patient decides to fight or otherwise ignore good advice.. Compulsion can often serve to smooth over rough steps.  Her compulsion spells are usually delivered through drinks.

Craft Weaknesses:

• 1. Timed Craft -  the mind works on its own time and no trigger will fix it before it is ready to be fixed.  This sense of time being irrelevant has made Timed Craft rather difficult for her to put her finger on it.  The triggers are just not strong enough for her to rely on her own webs for timed needs.
• 2.  Poison Craft - At her heart, Misha is a Healer of the Mind.  She has even been tempted to start training in a Healer's craft.  She sometimes wonders if this is why she can't seem to get the .. trick... to poisons.  In fact, she is so poor with poisons that she avoids all but the poison created by her own snaketooth.   She rather despises the fact that she cannot detect or cure these poisons, really, as she's found that many Mind Delvers use Poisons to specifically target the mind... at least within Dena Nehele.

Family:
Mother:  Rozaria Petrescu - White to Rose - Witch - 125 ap
Father: Adrias Veleski - Summer Sky to Opal - Warlord - 128 ap (Death by Purge, 193ap)
Siblings:
Catalin Petrescu - Yellow to Rose - Witch - 156 ap (Death by Purge, 193ap)
Mihail Petrescu - Yellow to Rose - Prince - 163 ap (Broken 193ap)

Allies:
Elenya Vicario - Tiger Eye to Summer Sky - Black Widow, Dhemlanese - 234 BP

History:

Three hundred and twenty five years ago the Petrescu family managed to obtain lands arable and fertile within the borders of Dena Nehele.  They also managed to 'obtain' a Queen often enough to keep their fields plentiful despite the politics of the Territory.  Misha isn't very fond of her familial history however, as she has been well aware of HOW they kept their Queens.  Her family has never had an Unbroken Queen darker in the Abyss than a Tiger Eye... though they had 'obtained' plenty who descended further than that.  Her father had explained, too calmly for her comfort, that they would 'buy' White through Tiger Eye'd Queens from other territories or families in the rural villages of the Territory.

From a cold and logical place, she supposed it was wise.  The political acumen of the family tradition certainly granted her family a happy middle ground in the game of the Territory.  The Queens were too light to get too much attention from enemies of the family if the family ensured that none remained UnBroken beyond the Tiger Eye... but she still finds the path her family took to obtain and maintain their slight power distasteful.  They aren't aristos, not really - but they are more than a common family too.  They've earned a bit of power with their farming, and her family likes to keep themselves right there.  Powerful enough to earn a few favors... weak enough to not have true enemies.

Because of this sense of ancestral guilt over queens, perhaps, Misha has focused most of her Craft training into learning how to Heal the Mind.  She took the appearance of her Snaketooth as an omen that she was on the right track.  She dove into her training with a gusto and zeal that caught some of her family off guard - but pleased her Coven instructors.

Her ability to work within the minds of her patients eventually became as sharp and fine tuned as a scalpel.  She could dip into their minds and seek out the cracks and anomalies with a precision that brought very little risk (relatively speaking of course) to the already harmed patient.  Upon a successful healing there was very little evidence she had ever been involved.

Her instructors believed this would mean she'd have an equal talent in the other areas of Mind Delving, though she is loathe to use Memory Manipulation.  She finds it... distasteful.

Her work with the Coven  and a friend she made from the Dhemlan academy has driven her to notate and record everything she does in a clinical and dispassionate way.  She had taken a year long trip to Dhemlan to learn from other Widows, her 'education' paid for by her Father in his effort to ensure that his daughter brought more favor to the family.  While that provides plenty of excuse, she has a motivation beyond mere favor and power behind her willingness to go outside the Territory to learn from other Black Widows.  She wants her work to speak for itself and to be taken with all the seriousness that the subject matter deserves.  At the urging of Elenya Vicario, she has made meticulous copies of her notes and regularly reads back through them to see where the trends and mistakes lie.  In the future, she intends to be remembered for her strides and work.

Elenya has assured her that such a thing is possible, and that she will ensure to teach other Widows to Heal with as much finesse as possible to match Misha's exacting standards.  It is, perhaps, a naive hope... but she trusts her long-lived friend more than she trusts most within her own country.

With the shaking up of the Territory Court, she has up until recently been disinterested in getting involved for obvious reasons.  While she quite obviously disagreed with her family's way of obtaining and keeping Queens, she agreed with their policy of avoiding territorial politics as much as possible.  At least until she started to meet some of the Jacks that were so loyal to the new Queen that they were willing to risk Aristocratic wrath and get their skulls figuratively cracked for their efforts.

Rilandra Vlas, apparently, was trying to FIX the Territory.  IF she could survive... if she could start taking the steps she seemingly wished to take.. fewer people would need the sort of assistance that Misha specialized in granting.

And while that seemed like it would put her out of work, she found herself hoping that Rilandra Vlas succeeded... because ultimately she wanted her patients to be healthy and safe more than she wanted the 'job security' of fixing minds.  As a competent Widow she can always find work - but some people's minds can never recover from the damages done to them.

Even with her talented fingers at work.

This is what has dragged her from her corner of Northern Dena Nehele to apply for a place within Rilandra's circles... and this goal of helping to Heal the broken and perhaps even encourage decrees and laws that would punish such brutal works is what gives her enough motivation to put herself within the Territory Court's political sights.

Recent History :
Misha was Broken during the Decimation.  She could have handled that, truly, save that in the Decimation she accidentally killed the patients sleeping in her clinic.  The guilt of that has been eating her alive - and her confidence has been shaken after realizing that she picked 'something' up during her time in the Twisted Kingdom afterwards.

She relies on Prince Mercer to help keep an eye on her, but she is also intent on finding a way to make amends for the mistakes (whether they are her fault or not) that resulted in her patients' deaths.




Character in Play:
The glittering label was no longer smudged, though Joffrey was hardly what she would call stable just yet.  He'd had to just re-witness the very event that had Broken his Sapphire... and for that, she felt a twinge of sympathy.  But he'd held strong... and he'd allowed her to help piece the fractured parts of his Chalice together despite the brutality of hte event that had Broken him.

Her hand settled on his shoulder, and for the first time in the last month she'd worked with him, she felt him keep from flinching. 

"Joffrey... you've done very well."
"Why.. why would they do it?"

She settled across from him, her hands grasping at his in this, his innermost 'safe place' within his mind.  Here, he was not the scarred and broken mass of flesh she was working with.  Here he was still strong, still whole. 

"Because people, Joffrey... they are cruel.  For those who will not give them what they want, they will give only punishment.  But you have proven yourself stronger and more worthy than they could ever be... you have survived.  You still have your Birthright, and you will be able to heal from all of this.  You will be able to return to your Guild and fight to protect the Queen that you have already given so much to protect."

She squeezed those hands, reinforcing the confidence she was trying to make him remember with a bit of compulsion, just enough to remind him of WHO he had once been.  Who he could be again..  He WOULD feel strong enough to go back to doing what he had chosen to do.  He WOULD regain every bit of courage and strength he'd lost... and he WOULD be able to make those assholes who had Broken him pay.

In time.

"You faced your nightmare tonight and you did not run.  You remembered all of it, Joffrey... and you are still here. You are not Broken in spirit.  We are in this together, you and I.  Are you ready?"

His hands trembled in hers... but she felt the slow and steady burn of courage in his hands.  She felt those digits slowly firm up on her own, and felt his barriers reform of solid stone instead of the shaky leaves they had once been.  Now he had walls, rather than foliage.

"Yes."

"Then let us start again."  She had only a few more cracks in this Chalice to Heal... and the rush of victory she tamped down with the need for logic and care.  She would not let Joffrey's sanity fade into the Darkness... not tonight.  Not ever.

And it was high time, when this was done, that she introduced herself to a Queen and informed her of the silent wars being waged against her in the Territory.   It was time the woman proved that she was truly The People's Queen, and not just another useless ruler.

Why did this character became inactive?  See Precious/Roshan explanation.

What will you do to prevent this character from becoming inactive again?  Again, therapy and all that. 

What are your plans for this character?  Misha will work with the coven leader in DN to help get a mind healing clinic up and running.  She knows a LOT about mind healing, and it makes sense that she would be approached to help teach.

Number of previous Reactivations: 0

Changes Made to Application for Reactivation Process (if any) : Added a recent history bit.

Player Name: Erica