Alisa Baykal

[Alisa "Miia" Baykal]

The world of man is ogreish; where might justice be?
Bloom with pride rather than asking that, oh flower of vice



Keep your eyes on eyes that behold dreams of hypocrisy
There is no church for either life or death

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Name: Alisa "Miia" Baykal

Age: Birthed a bit before Louhi's ensealment

Fantasy Race: Demi-god

Ethnicity: Half Russian, half Finnish

Nationality: Raised in Russia

Economic Class: Impoverished (her money was taken by the Manalists)

Gender Identity: Female

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Political Belief: Libertarian

Religious Belief: Pagan

Organization: Manalists

Occupation: Witch, forced Manalist Soldier

Skills:

+ Pulchritude
+ Diplomacy
+ History (She lived it, after all)
+ Adaptable
+ Crafty
+ Knowledgeable
+ Perceptive

Weaknesses:

- Prideful
- Limited freedom
- Cynical
- Impulsive
- Feral (at times)

Powers:

(1) Seemingly inherited from her mother, Alisa is able to shapeshift. Her shape shifting, of course, is a bit more limited. She must drink the blood of whatever animal she wishes to turn into in order to attain that form. Whenever transforming into or out of an animal for the first time, disorientation follows for at least a handful of minutes. Learning to move as that animal also takes its time. Her bones are much more flexible now combined with the pain tolerance she's developed- but pain may still cause her to pass out if the animal is much larger/smaller than herself and she has not transformed into that animal often.
The two forms that she has fully masted are wolf and dragon, the first and second animals she ever shifted to. Depending on the length of time she stays as an animal, the harder it is to return to human nature once more. Due to this, she acts feral commonly after assuming her human form once more. Certain triggers also bring out this nature. (Example: if she becomes too hungry and she catches the smell of meat, she will hunt after it as if she were a wolf or dragon even as her human self.)

(2) Discovered while stalking humans as a wolf, Alisa is able to 'feed' off of people's luck as if it were an energy. She's tested it more than enough to confirm whatever luck she takes befalls on herself. Likewise, the opposite of whatever kind of luck she steals from someone befalls the victim. Snatching someone's good luck replaces their luck with bad luck, dangerously so in some cases depending on the amount. This ability is how the black wolf of death/bad luck legend was born.

(3) The fear others felt toward her as a child due to her piercing eyes were not completely unfounded. Her eyes hold a power she only harnessed during the years spent with dragons. At their best, she has forced others to confess their deepest secrets. If the gaze fails, she simply retains a feed of their emotions (inclining her to connect this power to her luck one). Connecting eyes with someone, they will commonly fear disturbed, yet have trouble turning their eyes away.
"What a strange twinkle your eyes hold..."
Black will begin to flood her eyes from the corners, ensnaring the onlooker more. They will find it increasingly difficult to pull their eyes away as the black fills around her irises. Her irises certainly do appear to sparkle at this point, her pupils reflecting one barren orange planet, a moon, and a burning sphere. Once the onlooker's pupils reflect a symbolic interpretation of the person's heart like her own, they are trapped.
The process takes at least a minute, extending longer the more one resists. Upon managing to look away, the enchantment is completely broken. Failure results in an unpleasant share of emotions with possibly more. The worst failure she ever had was when someone broke contact right before completion. She was blinded by madness that wasn't her own for hours afterward.

(4) Alisa is a seer, but only through her dreams. Growing up as a child, she learned much of the history of her mother and dragons without realizing it. She sees the past, the present, and, rarely, the future. She may act as one of the persons experiencing the event or watch as one would a movie. She doesn't really have control over this ability. Events which bear some connection to her are the norm even if the connection may be as small as someone she had passed on the street years and years ago.

Weapon: No one really messes with a woman who can rip their throat out. (Regardless, she carries the customary Manala gun as a Manalist soldier.)

Appearance: Much like her mother, Alisa is dark haired and paled skin. She bears very little in way of features from her father- just enough to create an appearance that is all her own. Her hair, as black as the darkness her mother reigns over, snakes down her back to just touching her waist. When wet, the hair falls a little longer as the waves that rule her hair flatten out. Her own father's hair was a mess of light brown curls which the man angrily tried to harness control over.

Her eyes are the most striking aspect of her body due to the contrast. Dark hair, pale skin... and then bright greens eyes that pierce the soul. Her father's eyes were green, but a darker shade like that of a leaf in the forest. The color of her own eyes are more akin to a green colored jewel, much like the emerald that rests in the circlet around her upper left arm. The silver circlet rounds her arm, arching into an open circle on the side facing outward. At the middle of the oval rests a perfectly rounded emerald. A dip of silver falls from the corner of the oval, giving the circlet the appearance of a crying eye.

This circlet was a gift from the dragon who housed her for some years. This and a ring which rests on her right ring finger are the only two pieces of jewelry she owns- both of which she would rather die than give up. The ring is made of a metal that appears to be silver. She knows not the name, simply of its rarity and the fact it is near unbendable. On the inside of the ring is sculpted in the tongue of dragons: "My love, of three worlds." A rainbow moonstone sets on the ring, one that never seems satisfied to be just one color. Alisa suspects the ring is magical somehow although she has never noted anything particularly strange aside from the colors.

Her face holds the deathly beauty of her mother with few traces of her Russian heritage. More red toned than pink, her lips almost appear as if they lack proper blood. Her body is shapely, the hour-glass shape she has seen countless females poison their bodies for. Standing shorter than both parents, the top of her head brushes 5'8" to put her taller than the average human female. Her weight is a little more standard for her height at around a hundred and twenty pounds.

When shifting to any animal, her eyes remain green while her pupils may change. Scales, fur, or anything covering the skin is as black as her hair in human appearance. Otherwise, the animal skin is as white as her natural skin. Her size is as large as the animal can naturally assume if the animal is smaller or as small as naturally possible if the animal is larger. As a wolf, she is larger than most but still not the largest- her weight remains the same. Likewise, as a dragon she is as small as natural for a young adult dragon. (She, of course, will not be growing any larger no matter how old she ages.)

Clothing isn't particularly important. She's vain enough to enjoy fancy clothes and expensive jewelry but not so much so that she would go out of her way to attain such things. Living as an animal changes your opinion of clothing quite a bit. Moreover, there is joy in being clean and there is joy in being dirty.

Personality: Like her place in the world, Alisa doesn't quite fit into the standards of "good" and "evil" as defined by man. She is seen as wicked, certainly- feared by others even as an innocent. Is it not justified, then, that she decided to go about life her own way? As a child, parents would shoo their children from her. The "spooky" child of Baykal, whose eyes appeared to see through them into their souls. There were those who attempted to accept her, but she still saw the uneasiness they tried so hard to hide.

Nonetheless, her father was the one person she still tried to please. He loved her; she couldn't blame him for fearing her all the same. Even now, she visits his grave and recollects on what type of person she had become. He tried his best to raise her in a way far different from Louhi, one of the main factors contributing to what could be considered "goodness" in her.

It was only years later, when she found true acceptance among wolves and dragons, that she understood humans. Her dragon mother (as she fondly terms the dragon who had taken her into its den) aided her well in understanding the fear that had been displayed toward her all her life. Humans fear things different, especially those which view the darkness as home. She feels a sort of pity for their ignorance. She views them as distasteful but doesn't directly look down upon them- rather, they are small minded creatures which do not know better.

She recognizes that there are always exceptions to generalizations but had given up active hope of these exceptions after a few centuries. When she does discover an exception she is delighted and joyous- the human finds itself the dear friend of a demi-god for its entire lifespan. Otherwise, dragons are the race she associates best with. Wolves are simple creatures, which, although being one of their endearing qualities, tires her after so long. Dragons seem to be both simple and complex- the beauty of creatures with the intelligence power of man. (Man who rarely harnesses the vast power of his mind.)

So, at first acquaintance, Alisa is a polite but distanced woman. Wolves are the only species she feels completely "at home" with (even if only for so long). Dragons, with her great respect toward them, are simply a much more grand being. She may feel great joy being with them and conversing with them but she is still not quite one of them. With wolves, she may simply completely forget her human self. Any others earning her respect is a difficult task. Difficult, but rewarding as she is completely loyal to those who she deems worthy of her friendship.

If that friendship conflicts with another, it causes her great distress. Being forced to choose one over another is one of the greatest pains in life to her. This explains the reason she had simply fled from her love when faced with the decision of Louhi or him- she could not simply abandon Louhi after she had given her so much.

She marvels at the power of the mind- which includes the power of emotions. In her life she has known the searing fire of anger, the sweet satisfaction of revenge, the drowning ache of despair, the soaring joy of happiness, every emotion that could possibly plague a creature. She has killed simply because she felt the urge to (they may've angered her, given her the wrong look, said the wrong thing). She has done things simply because someone told her not to. She has sought things with a passion simply because someone denied it from her.

She has committed the wickedest deeds simply to experience them. On this note, she has also saved simply because she felt the urge to. She has done acts of kindness simply because someone told her they were the things to do. She has given to others simply because someone was denied their wish. For every "evil", Alisa bears a "good". She has killed for justice, acted as a symbol of divine judgment. She has stolen from the rich, the poor, for herself, for others.

She does as she wishes. She is the daughter of Louhi, of man, of wolf, of dragon. She is all and she is none. If being free as herself is a wickedness considered worse than the devil... Well, then she will be so.

Story: The exact circumstances of her father's and mother's meeting are unknown even to Alisa, but one fact remains clear: he obviously did not know who Louhi really was. At the age of four she was dumped onto her father's stoop to never see sight of her mother again except for the apparition that would come to haunt her. Mental images and fuzzy memories of the four years she did spend with her mother after her birth are the only confirmation she holds to the fact her mother was, in fact, the self-proclaimed goddess. For most of her youth, Alisa seemed to be normal enough. She grew up in pampered conditions, her father teaching her how a young lady should act as best as he could.

Dreams followed her through the years, dreams of scaled beasts and darkness. Once old enough to notice the way her father sometimes looked at her as if he was disturbed by her, she ceased sharing her dreams with him. It was shortly before her marriage age when the visions finally came, ones that revealed her dreams were much more than simply dreams. She saw an older woman, one with the same flowing black hair and pale skin as herself. Her mother. Louhi. Goddess of Darkness.

Whether or not it was actually her mother speaking to her from her ensealment or not is unknown. The apparition could have as easily been an enchantment casted on her during her four years with her mother to ensure she would learn the truth of her heritage. The woman called her "Miia", a Finnish name that was meant as her birth name. At first, she started out only suggesting things for Alisa to do.
You don't have to do it if you don't wish to...
You're more intelligent than those 'men', don't just agree with their idiocy...
If she insults you, make her suffer...
She did so, hesitantly and slowly... and for the first time in her life, she tasted the fruit of sweet satisfaction. Apparition or not, it encouraged her difference; it accepted her. She loved her father, but she knew he would never understand. He would only fear her, and fear her he did as she followed the advice of her dreams and visions more and more. She became an independent woman- scornful for that time period. When both the apparition and Alisa knew she could remain no longer under her father's wing, the apparition taught her how to attain the form of creatures.

With this knowledge came the instructions to seek out a dragon loyal to Louhi. Her first form is one she did not have to attain herself, the form of a black wolf. Apparently, Louhi had given her the blood of a wolf to drink before leaving her in her father's care. She left into the night, experiencing the greatest pain she had ever known as she transformed into a wolf. With it came the greatest feeling she had ever known- freedom. Intoxicated by it, she lived as an animal for months afterwards as she prowled the lands. At one point she went as far as to join a pack of wild wolves- but never forgot her instructions.

In the remote mountains, her goal was reached. She discovered the den of a black dragon, ones who were most known for being loyal to Louhi. The dragon, curious as to why a wolf would venture into its den, read her mind. It accepted Alisa into its home freely once it had caught up on the young half-mortal's life. Disoriented at being human form once more, she could only rest for the first few days. Louhi appeared to her once more for the first time since her departure only to tell her to learn all she could- and to drink the dragon's blood. She was reluctant to, but knew there hadn't been any turning back since the moment she'd step from her father's house.

To her surprise the dragon offered its blood freely, interested in seeing for itself one of Louhi's daughters become one of her creations. She downed the unpleasant blood, willing herself to transform as she had before. The pain was, if possible, more intense than before; so much so that she passed out during the transformation. However, when she awoke she was most certainly a black dragon.

Her form was not as grand as other dragons, but the beauty was unique. The dragon suggested Alisa stay in the form for a while as she had done in her wolf form to learn how to be a dragon. She accepted the suggestion, learning from the elder dragon as if she were a hatchling. Once she had assumed human form again, she was taught of the past: of Louhi, the other gods, the battles between them...

For many years, she remained with the dragon learning of the world and training her abilities. To the dragons she was known as Miia. It was during this time she fell in love for the first time with a dragon. As fate would have it, this dragon had turned away from Louhi. He refused her affections after discovering her opinions. She wished to change for him... but could not deny the woman who had given her so much. Louhi had given her nothing but goodness, and so she ignored the pain of her heart.

After this fallout, she finally left the den of the dragon who had been her adopted mother of sorts for so many years. She went on to learn things first hand, to explore the world and its people as a free woman. As a black wolf, she would stalk and possibly kill people if she deemed it necessary. Her ability to twist people's luck was accidentally discovered during these hunts.

She watched as mankind evolved, harnessing the power of technology. Watched as nations rose and fell, wars begun and ended, people lived and died. The rise of Manala didn't particularly concern her- it was simply another cycle of rulers to her. She may've never become involved if Louhi had not appeared to her once again for the first time in over a millennium. It was finally the time that she requested something of her daughter: to battle the Manalists for the egg in which Louhi was sealed.

Alisa could not deny the request even if she wished to. Louhi reassured her that whatever happened it was in the plan. She rose against Manalism first as a woman, then as a wolf, and lastly as a dragon. She fought grandly but fell nonetheless. As punishment for her rebellion, a Manala collar from the Wrath was placed around her neck. Eventually it was decided that her powers would be beneficial to the Manalists, warranting the creation of a new type of collar.

This collar allowed the use of abilities as long as the wearer followed Manalist orders. Denial would be met with a pain worse than that of shape shifting. Stripped of her freedom, she raged until the pain caused her to pass out. Once more, her mother appeared to her. She soothed her daughter and promised glorious justice. The collar would help their plans instead of harm them. Alisa "Miia" Baykal would work her witchery for the Manalists quietly, building their trust in her. She'd be their little soldier until she discovered the location of her mother's egg. At that point in time, freedom and revenge would be hers.

[Hilja Kukkanen/Sasha Pisarev]

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