⊱ I will put an ocean into a thimble. I will build a world on the edge of a blade. ⊰

NAME Nikola Frey RACE Nibenese Imperial | Reachman GENDER Female
OCCUPATION Bloodhound AGE ~35 BIRTHSIGN The Serpent
EYES Gold HAIR Black HEIGHT 5'3" BUILD Thick Hourglass, Fit

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Her conception was payment in exchange for power, and her birth inevitably a tragedy that paid for the creation of her life with that of her mother. There was little joy to be found in the infant cries of a noblewoman's bastard, bloodline muddied by the Longhouse Reachmen and the Snake in the Stars. She was a curse, a token of bad luck, chosen last and discarded by one who had given her a name that was not truly hers: Nikola Frey.She was not allowed to take her mother's name, but she was talented enough to follow in the footsteps of her stolen lineage to the Celestial Citadel. The Spire shaped her, but the Void contorted her malleable mind. She stumbled, faltered, and fell, unrecognizable to herself, though she desperately clings to an idea of who she could have been.Her worst kept secret is merely a truth — The Void was the only place that truly felt like home, and she'd do anything to have the taste of it on her tongue again.

dossier.

...It strikes me that he talked with the arrogance of one who can always return from the void.
One who has contemplated the darkness so long he thinks of it as a friend, of sorts.

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ALIASES	Niko, Nikola Vallis
TITLES	Imperial Battlemage (former)
BIRTHPLACE	Leyawiin
ALIGNMENT	Lawful Evil
ORIENTATION	Queer, monogamous (and uninterested, don't bother trying)
FAITH	A very tenuous devotion to Boethiah

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MARKINGS........	In Nibenese fashion, ruby markings on her arms, legs, hands, and back.
FEATURES	Sharp - Aquiline nose and full lips, heavily freckled.
ATTIRE	Often includes some touch of red to match her tattoos. Rotates between risqué Nibenese moth-silk robes, and padded leather armor, never without an absurd amount of gold jewelry.

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VIRTUES.............	Passionate and committed. Honest, but mostly out of her innately outspoken nature. Clever, ambitious, curious, attentive.
FLAWS	Horribly envious. Greedy. Self-serving in most cases, will take a moment to think about herself first even in dire situations. Doesn't tend to think about what effects her actions have on others. Prone to listening to the devil on her shoulder.
LIKES	Brandy. Dancing. Magic, and the power and mysteries it holds. Violent thunderstorms. Traveling, the sea, and hard work that pays off. Oblivion.
DISLIKES	Most Colovians, Nords, and Mer. Morrowind. Bugs. Petty crime and stupid criminals.

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Niko is a pendulum: defined by the best of her virtues and the worst of her vices.At her best, she's a loyal hound, and she wears that moniker like a coat of arms. First, to whoever is paying her. Second, as most mercenaries do, to her own best interests and her warped definition of a moral code. Third to the thrill of the game, and last to the voice in her head that urges her to aim for the heart and twist the knife.At her worst, she is hateful and envious: a woman who stumbled when her fingers brushed against greatness and squandered her chance to ever see it again. Her sense of self has been jaded and warped, and so she clings to those that might give her purpose. It is the same every time: Another sin upon her dirtied soul.She'll lie through her teeth and claim that money is the sole driver for everything that she's done ─ In truth, every drop of blood spilt has been payment for what she believes is her inevitable return to greatness.

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common

"You know, a bounty hunter is only as good as their ability to chase a lead. She's got a nose that can pick up a scent on even the coldest of trails — Someway, somehow, she'll find a way to bring a contract back from the maws of some distant hideout or, Gods above, the depths of the Void itself."
Anvil, circa 2E 593."Helpful, so long as you don't mind an extra set of hands prying into your business. It was the workings of a nearby cult, aye. She took to it like a hound would take to tracking a scent; came back with her arms full of odd idols, strange curios, and ancient tomes. No doubt cursed... The Ivory Brigade requisitioned some of them, but the rest went to that bookstore — Aye, with the Altmer!"
Leyawiin, circa 2E 594."That woman is bad news. Her footprints are bloodied, hands stained black from magic most foul. The walker consorts with devils; a warlock, borrowing power from the Princes! This one tried to warn Rashah-dar, but he swore the walker was only there for information. Rashah-dar should have listened, for now there is no one left to hear him but the ghosts of his ransacked farm."
Rimmen, circa 2E 588.

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rare

"Lord Vallis' first daughter — I remember her. Died young in the most unfortunate of ways. I remember how dark the estate was the day of her passing... First the Serpent appeared in the sky, and then the great storm that lasted ten days and ten nights. Narina Vallis wailed through the night and the Lord pleaded endlessly for her to simply see the sunrise. There were no Vallis Battlemages for a decade after, until he sent his bastard off in some desperate attempt to maintain his goodwill with the Spire."
Leyawiin, circa 2E 560."The Spire nearly took her life. The maddening whispers of the void beckoned her into bed with them like an old lover. She was never quite good enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the rest of us, not until her Initiation. She was gone for one-hundred days — longer than any other Potential took for their trial — and she came back beaten, bloodied, and wrong."
Imperial City, circa 2E 579."There have been many like her, and when her time is up, there will be many more. Mortals that wade too far into the Void and end up neck-deep in chaos — It's made a terrible mess of this one, it seems. Golden eyes yearn for drugs that would bring her to the brink of the destruction, where the high is from just barely escaping death. Give them to her; see if she can survive the taste of Padomay on her tongue."
The Shambles, circa 2E 594."Aye, we took the Witchman's head. He granted one too many 'wishes', it was bound for one of those cursed deals to go sideways. He was a proud one, but he whimpered and begged for his children in his last moments. Nikola and Saenus, no surnames... Reach dogs."
Shornhelm, 2E 577.

common

⊱ For the Love of the Hunt - Whether on this plane or those beyond, Niko's most public occupation is that of a hunter; of bounties, of Daedra, of the occult, of arcane knowledge. Once, her quarry may have just been mundane criminals, but where's the fun in that? Wherever there's a hint of crime or dark magicks at play, she'll be there to stick her nose in it.
→ a hook for the hunters or the hunted - no perma-deaths will happen here if you are the latter! those dispensing knowledge - witches, warlocks, mages, so on - are welcome to reach out. let's be friends.⊱ Oblivion of All Varieties - Hypocrisy is an Akatosh-given right for Imperials that Niko partakes in readily. Obsession and addiction come easy to her (a personality flaw, perhaps); for every waking moment between work, there's a drink to be had, a high to be found, and solace taken in the company of those that are no better than poison.
→ merchants of drink and drug will find an eager customer in Niko - despite her career of hunting criminals, she seeps keen on looking the other way when it comes to this.⊱ Magic Most Foul - It goes beyond what is typically deemed the 'acceptable' form of Conjuration, black-stained fingers reaching beyond this plane to bring back more than just simple blades and unwitting creatures. She's torn lightning from the very skies of Attribution's Share as her scourge and breathed fire taken from the storms of the Deadlands, exerting her will over both Oblivion and Nirn (much as a mortal can). It poisons and corrupts that of which should be natural, perhaps a more refined, Imperialized version of Reach witchery - Or that could just be a nasty rumor on account of her blood.
→ Niko, for all her failures, is a skilled mage. matters of Oblivion are her bread and butter, and she'd be willing to take an apprentice on, should they wish to taste 'forbidden magicks'. a note on power-scaling: it's for rule of cool. Niko tends to get her ass beat.

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uncommon

⊱ Alone, at the Edge of the Void - It's not a history she's proud of, but it is one she can never truly escape. Bastard daughter to a Battlemage aristocrat with a close relationship to the Battlespire, her formative years were spent learning the arts of war and magicka within Oblivion itself. She never quite had the right temperament to be a good Battlemage, they said; she was spiteful, jealous, not sound of mind. It was her Initiation that kept her from ever rising to the likes of other, much better Battlemages... Or maybe she wasn't good enough to begin with.
→ fellow Battlespire trainees might recognize Niko from their shared time there, though this is something she rarely mentions. Daedric matters in Cyrodiil are of great interest to her - as are the remnants of the Nibenese Battlemage aristocracy.

rare

⊱ The Eclipse that Covers All - Time spent peering into Oblivion has left a taste of the Void upon her tongue, and Nikola has garnered an understanding of all things vile from the myriad Planes of Existence. She keeps one foot upon the Mundus and the other beyond the veil, a skilled Daedrologist and Arcane Investigator within the Celestial Palanquin and all the realms beyond.
→ investigations, bounty hunts, chases across the Aurbis for every truth that can be unveiled. one-offs with unaffiliated truth-seekers are welcome; others are encouraged to check out the Eclipse Inquisitorum!⊱ The Hunger - It's something that coils around her spine, ripping and wrenching at her stomach until there is only the urge to consume — One day, it may consume her, too. It's the worst of her made manifest, a sharpened blade that promises greatness with the point dug into her own heart.
→ a little 'trying to commune with a daedric prince' gone wrong, if we would (it is not vampirism). requires prior discussion.

colleague

TBA

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lord neilos vallis

Hierophant of House Vallis, Imperial Battlemage

grandfather

Even now, I bear the face of your daughter and the eyes of the one who heralded her fate. It's sickening, holding the weight of your blame on my shoulders while you still revel in the gifts of my father — You know it, too.

lady narina vallis

Lady of House Vallis, Imperial Battlemage

mother †

I wish I could have known you. You were a firebrand, a storm to be reckoned with, and I took from the Heartland one of their best.

seamus the weaver

father †

I hope the family you chose hasn't disappointed you nearly as much as I have.

saenus frey

half-brother

I hear you in fleeting moments in my mind. I remember the days of our youth, and your voice has become beautiful. I'll find you again, brother, either at the end of my blade or as family again.

the worm

Parasite. I feel you, when the night sky is black as the Void, filling my throat with bile and whispering how much I Hunger. I wonder how long you've been with me, and if you're to blame for all that I've done.

about the writer

Heya! I'm clover (also called clovis by friends). I'm a 20-something queer woman from the United States in the EST/EDT timezone, and I've been writing and roleplaying since the early 2010s (though I've been in ESO since 2018). My most favorite thing to explore in RP is very flawed characters - I like to write characters that do awful things, but also delve into why they do the things that they do, what might motivate them to change, or what keeps them awful. Because of this my RP can get into some "dark and gritty" themes, but that is not an invite for wanton edginess, or for thinking that I agree out of character with everything my characters do.If you're interested in RPing, please take a moment to look at my scheduling and RP preferences here:

out of character carrd

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rulcarin

ari reid

caemoth qorotar

thomas wise

roshana at-izdihar

serai nestal

yrsana the seer

veirmethyn

j'halin

zahe

paisley petilia plalo

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lord neilos vallis

lady narina vallis

seamus the weaver

saenus frey

the worm

about the writer

gallery

playlist

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rulcarin

ari reid

caemoth qorotar

thomas wise

roshana at-izdihar

serai nestal

yrsana the seer

veirmethyn

j'halin

zahe

paisley petilia plalo

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lord neilos vallis

lady narina vallis

seamus the weaver

saenus frey

the worm

about the writer

gallery

playlist

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