Cora Tallah

Cora wrote:Name: Cora Tallah
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Birthday: 4/6
Sexuality: Straight
Special Characteristics: A crystal swan guild mark on her left side colored in four different pastel shades. The outer line that curves into the elegant head of the swan is a light pastel blue, while the wings from bottom to top are colored pastel shades of green, yellow, and pink.

Personality: Cora outside of battle is a friendly individual that constantly strives to explore new things and help improve herself while motivating the people around her. She has a very positive and encouraging attitude when talking to her peers; never wishing to discourage someone who is trying their best. When someone is sad around her, she is not afraid to just sit by their side and listen to their woes without saying a word if that's what the need. She's also a free-giver of hugs if they are not opposed to it either, and is quick to offer a sweet treat to them to try to ease their burden. If others are angry or particularly dismissive around her then she tends to shrink down emotionally. She keeps to herself to try to prevent them from growing more angry with her and does her best to move past it in stride so she does not lose out on a potential friend and ally. Even if it means ignoring an issue or just not standing up for herself. If she lingers too long in these tense environments it can lead to Cora growing saddened and depressed. Rather than bother her friends with the emotions, she withdraws and keeps to herself. She will not speak up as often, she will eat and drink less, and she will hide away when she is on the verge of tears so that no one has to see her cry. Cora is a creative sort that is always picking up new hobbies and interests whenever she possibly can. Not all of these come to fruition, however, as often times her attention span keeps her bouncing from project to project while finishing very few.

In battle, Cora is not always the most prepared individual under pressure and tends to lean more towards working towards a diplomatic or artistic solution whenever possible. Under a leader though, she flourishes and is usually able to follow their commands and instructions to the letter as long as they are not morally questionable. If they are then she has a tendency to freeze up in disbelief and will try to make a point to refuse to do it unless she can be convinced that there truly is no other option. Acting as a leader is one of Cora's weakest points, mainly because she goes out of her way to try to take actions that will, in turn, make everyone happiest overall. These decisions are not the easiest to make under the strain that a leader is to expect, and there are rarely any solutions that make everyone happy without leaving everyone involved disgruntled. Most of the time she favors supporting from a sideline whenever possible and helping to comfort the injured in the aftermath with what little first aid knowledge she knows. However, she is not opposed to jumping to the front lines if she can take a blow for one of her teammates. Often it is this risky behavior can lead to her needing the medical attention. When it comes down to it, even if it would be hard to force her to admit it, Cora would rather that someone else survives and suffers less even at the expense of her own life.

Likes:

• Sewing and Stuffed Animals: Her father and mother are toy makers in the town she's from, and used to field their ideas with Cora as a child. While she didn't pick up the art of carving wooden toys easily, her mother did teach her to sew and she took to it readily. She has amassed an impressive collection ranging from animals to even caricatures of important figures, but her favorite is a fat stuffed unicorn that she made by hand. She often takes with her in some way as a good luck charm for her travels.
  

• Cooking and Baking: As her parents started to grow more elderly, Cora started to help around the house more. Her favorite chore included cooking meals for the entire family as she found that she could tinker with a wide array of flavors and textures to make something absolutely unique and delicious. She didn't dislike recipes, but she would often make her own unique twist on them to make them interesting. Sometimes this does not always work out and can lead to a mess, and she considers her biggest failure to be the stuffed gummy peppers she tried once. The combination of sweet and savory can only be pushed so hard.
  

• Magic: Magic has always fascinated Cora and from a young age she would admire the individuals that would go out and join the guilds. They were heroes to her that would save the downtrodden and make the world better overall with their presence by taking down the people that use the wonder of magic selfishly. Obviously, she hasn't had much experience with these darker aspects of magic, but she's always been fascinated by how much variety can be seen from magician to magician.
  

• Meeting New People: Cora is used to working in the store and interacting with people every day. She would go beyond trying to sell the children's toys and hold conversations with them and their parents to delve into their lives and the dreams that they had. Always making a point to remember them by name, it wasn't uncommon for some people to drop by just to talk and check in on Cora and her family. Now that she's aiming to travel and explore the world, she aims to take that sort of mentality with her!
  

• Learning New Things: Whether it is reading from an interesting book or taking a more hands-on approach, Cora loves to learn new things. She will often amass a gathering of broad facts in her brain that's usually just whatever she finds interesting to bring up in conversation on top of her usual studies. She will also gather supplies to start learning new crafts and instruments she enjoys or admires. So far not including her sewing and cooking that she's stuck to, she has tried to pick up painting, the violin, sculpting, wood carving, singing, and calligraphy.
  

• Sweets: It is difficult to find something that tastes too sweet to Cora, and she loves tasting a wide arrange of desserts to help broaden her own ideas in the kitchen. Her favorites are cold and soft treats like ice cream and cakes, but she enjoys a nice brittle from time to time as well. If she is not feeling like eating, sometimes she will sneak in some sweets in an attempt to substitute a proper meal, but this often leads to stomach-aches that she regrets later. Though, this regret doesn't keep her from repeating the mistake.
  

• Rain: Cora enjoys the rain and while some might find that it makes the days or nights dreary or frightening, she enjoys listening to the sound of the raindrops hitting the roofs and streets. The shadows the clouds cast and the way lightning bathes the sky also adds a mysterious serenity to the world in her eyes. She does not mind going outside without a coat in the rain, and she might even take the time to splash around in a puddle or two after it has passed. To her, it is the perfect metaphor for how life needs many feelings and how most can often be treated more positively.
  

• Music: While Cora might enjoy all music, she finds soft and gentle melodies akin to lullabies her favorite. They are the easiest for her to read or sew by, and they help to calm and relax her. When she is having a rough day and needs to hide away, one of the first things she does it turn on a gentle or sad song and huddle by it. The way the notes wash over her make it easier for her to cry, but usually, help comfort her so that she can return to being happy sooner. It is almost like someone else was sharing in her sadness at that very moment and by listening to it they could be there for each other and make it through anything.
  

Dislikes:

• Discouragement: Cora does not enjoy discouraging others or watching others get demeaned or talked down to for trying and failing something new. Now, this does not necessarily apply to things that are wrong and she knows people shouldn't be doing. She is not afraid to tell a person that they are going down the wrong path. Rather, instead of condemning them as a person, she tries to see the positives about them and offers alternatives that could help them be better overall. She feels that there is always a little good in someone and that there is rarely ever a person that is beyond saving.
  

• Blood: Cora is somewhat squeamish around the sight of blood, but not to the extent that she would risk fainting around it. Blood makes her skin grow paler and creates a slightly nauseous and uneasy feeling in her stomach. Those feelings are usually strengthened by the amount of violence that is paired with the blood. She would prefer that no one has to get hurt, but is trying to conquer this naive mentality for the sake of good and the guild.
  

• Ignorance: Cora doesn't believe that there are any smart and dumb people and just thinks that everyone has their own methods and ways of learning things. Just because someone does not excel at book learning, doesn't mean that they can't be geniuses or prodigies in other areas of their life. What Cora doesn't like is ignorant people that choose to sit and be stunted by the thoughts and feelings that they are never going to learn anything new or they don't need to learn anything new. She doesn't look down on them but often tries to press and plead with them to learn from their mistakes and grow.
  

• Conning and Lies: In her town, Cora has not seen many instances of deceit on the surface, but she is not invulnerable to the rumors and stories that inevitably emerge from these deals. Inside the thought of someone going out of their way to deceive innocent people for their own selfish gains irks her. Cora has never had a reason to go out of her way to lie in general, so the clouding of the truth overall is something that she does not understand. A lie might do something like make you sound better in the moment, but you still have to live with knowing what your true capabilities are and the impossible standard that you are creating.
  

• Arrogance: Cora does not enjoy being around arrogant people that believe that they, their friends, and their beliefs are the elite and anything outside of that are lesser. These people often tend to be condescending and unwelcoming to outsiders, which confuses Cora. They are the kind of people that she often has to try to ignore these faults and quirks to be able to work with them. She understands that it doesn't make these people necessarily bad, and confidence isn't a fault in itself, but it is a trait that makes her uncomfortable.
  

Motivations:

• Helping others be happier: There's nothing that cheers Cora up more than helping to dry the tears of another and bring a smile to their face. It's something that warms her heart and makes her feel like she's made a difference, even if it is just in the life of one person. She hopes that being a part of the guild will help her do this in many different ways and plans on standing with the friends and family that she meets through thick and thin.
  

• Exploring the world: For most of life before she joined the guild, Cora's life was limited to her town and home. There were enough people to meet, but she would daydream about wandering countrysides, setting sail on vast oceans, or flying through the clouds and skies. Her mind would drift away to these far away places and now Cora feels that she has the rest of her life for her body to catch up! She's not going to let any time waste and plans on traveling the world; visiting any place both big and small.
  

• Bettering her magic: Cora hopes that someday she can be counted among the ranks of some of the veteran magicians. She doesn't understand much of her magic yet but wants to harness it to the best of its potential. Through learning more about herself and who she is, she wants to refine the potential inside of her to become someone that the younger magicians entering the guild can look up to someday.
  

• Creating new works of art: Art and beauty in all of its forms are dear to Cora, and she can find creative freedom in any outlet there is. She's found what she loves to do but knows that there's always more out there. Through the guild and her travels, she wants to meet other creative individuals and share what she's made with them as well as appreciate the works of art they've created. She always yearns for a chance to trade tips and tricks with other craftsmen and can go on for hours talking about it once the topic comes up.
  

Fears:

• Isolation and Loneliness: Cora thrives in the company of others and does best when she gets along with most of the people she meets. Sometimes a thought or feeling can nag in the back of her mind when she finds someone who detests her somewhat bubbly persona she tries to put forth. That the more she tries, the more likely that she will ultimately push away the people around her. If she lingers on these thoughts, sometimes the feeling can fester into going as far as thinking that everyone might be better off without her around. Whenever she tries to see if this is true, leaving herself alone for a few days at a time, it leaves her in absolute misery.
  

• Becoming uncontrollable: She has heard many stories and whispers of the different kinds of magic in the world, but some of them are not always pleasant. Particularly in these times where she does not know what she is capable of, Cora has this fear that what magic she wields will be something that is unredeemable. A kind of magic that can do nothing but hurt the people closest to her no matter how hard she tries to control it. Even if her power is not necessarily something bad, she worries that in trying to master it, that it will consume her and change the kind of person she is for the worst.
  

• Getting betrayed: Cora is not blind to how naive she can seem to others and how it can lead to her making mistakes. She has a hidden fear that there will come a day that she truly trusts in the wrong person and it leads to something devastating. Something that can only hurt her, her guild, and her friends and it could be easily avoided if it were not for her. She is in a constant struggle to try to see the good in others and give them the benefit of a doubt and learning to be cautious and careful in who she truly trusts.
  

• Inevitable defeat: Cora fears that a job might one day lead to a situation that she truly cannot overcome. A situation where she has exhausted all of her words and lay broken and exhausted. She fears that there will be something that can truly overcome her and her efforts to protect the people close to her. She does not fear the death that might come from a situation like that, but she fears the consequences of her failures that might arise afterward.
  

General Appearance


Height: 5'7"
Weight: 121 lbs
Hair: Pale lavender hair that flows down past her hips. Neatly brushed with a single black ribbon of lace keeping up a small bun that sits on top of the left side of her head.
Eyes: Purple like amethyst
Skin Tone: Light and pale
Appearance:
Cora is a girl that looks to be in her late teens and a tall and frail build overall. For the most part, she carries herself gracefully, but when she is lost in her excitement or uncertain footing, she becomes almost clumsily unaware of just how tall and lanky she truly is. Her hair is a very pale pastel shade of purple like the fresh petals of lavender blossoms. It flows neatly down to her waist and hips with the exception of a small loose bun that sits high on top of the left side of her head. The bun is held in place by a black lace ribbon that's been tied into a loose bow and a few stray curls that have slipped free dangle from underneath it. Roughly cut bangs cover most of her forehead but have been carefully trimmed so that they do not cover her eyes. Large and gentle looking, her rounded eyes are framed by a set of thick lashes. Overall her features are soft and youthful down to the rosy glow of her cheeks, her small nose, and her pale pink lips.

She has pale skin that looks to be unmarred by any scars or markings, with the exception of a tattoo that peeks through the gaps in the side of the dress she's wearing. The tattoo is delicate in its color and doesn't do much to stand out against the tone of her skin. It is a crystal swan-shaped with four simple lines. The outer line that curves around to create the main shape of the head and body is a pale pastel blue, while three rounded leaf-like shapes of pale green, yellow, and pink layer together to create its wings. The dress overall is light and delicate with a rounded halter neck that wraps around her like a choker. It is pure white and lacks sleeves leaving the bodice snug around her modest figure to keep it in place. Diamond gaps line both sides of her body leaving her pale skin exposed and each gap has been decorated on top and bottom with a black silk ribbon tied into a bow. The skirt has some smaller white ribbons that have been tied to resemble fake butterflies clinging to it and it billows loosely around her reaching past her knees. Her legs are covered by white tights and she wears a simple pair of black ballet flats on her feet.

Guild/Council

Guild: Crystal Swan
Tattoo: A crystal swan guild mark on the left side of her body and it is colored in four different pastel shades. The outer line that curves into the elegant head of the swan is a light pastel blue, while the wings from bottom to top are colored pastel shades of green, yellow, and pink.
Rank: D