#teso asks

[azriah]

Tes oc Qs: 3, 14, 15

3. Does your oc have any kind of crafting skills that either aren’t in-game or don’t have as much importance in-game as they would in real life? (For example, can your oc sew or weave, etc? Are they skilled in any kind of art? Can they make jewelry or work glass? Are they musicians? etc)

I kind of touched on it here but the TLDR is that she has a number of practical livelihood skills. She is a good cook, she can sew/making clothing and chitin based armors, she can hunt, she can make lean-tos and basic goods necessary for surviving in the wild of Morrowind. These skills are important to her to maintain even after they have ceased to be necessary in her day to day life because she will always rely 110% on herself.

14. How well-liked is your oc? What is their reputation, if they’re well-known? Are they simply liked/disliked, or are they respected but feared, or personally liked but not taken seriously, etc? Do major factions consider your oc an important player? 

I would say that Sovaliah probably inspires a polarizing response. She generally makes little effort to be palatable to others, unapologetically being her authentic self always. She is individualistic, hard-working, and intelligent with the ruthless sort of ambition that is necessary to exist in House Telvanni, which of course has netted her just as many enemies as allies. Some might find her stubborn attitude annoying where others might find it endearing/amusing. Most Dunmer that she encounter are suspicious/disdainful of her on virtue of being Telvanni but that’s nothing new to her. Non-Dunmer might be a little more freaked out by her for the stereotypes that surround her house and the fact that she is so austere in manner. 

15. Does your oc have a horse/other mount? A pet? How did they get this animal? If they were given the animal, do they have the money to maintain it? How careful/careless are they with their animal? What do they do with their pets while adventuring, especially on dangerous quests?

Sovaliah actually owns a few animals! She has... 

A hearthfire-breed kagouti that she uses as her primary steed. These types of kagouti are the result of some Telvanni wizard’s attempt to infuse a normal kagouti with a flame atronach. Sovaliah, who is naturally drawn to things that are on fire or otherwise spicy, spent a good chunk of her savings on a hatchling being sold in the market in Sadrith Mora. It’s an object of interest for her especially for its magical properties, which she has tried to augment with spellwork of her own. It is terribly ornery in personality but she loves it.

An ordinary guar who is basically an old lady. This guar has served her faithfully for many years and she often brings it along in expeditions to use as a pack animal. It is very sweet and docile except that it has absolutely no awareness of its bite and so feeding it snacks directly may result in a maimed hand.

A dozen-banded Vvardvark. She hates this thing’s stupid face but would probably take stab wound for it. In one of her experiments she tried to give it the ability to teleport, but all she seems to have accomplished is make it much more dumb. Magically sensitive people might be able to discern a faint aurbical aura about it. But that’s about it. Now it can’t even be released back in the wild because it can’t survive on its own and so she keeps it as a house pet. 

An ordinary house cat. Sovaliah is a little unsure about about fauna that is not native to Morrowind; she has spent her whole life around miscellaneous reptilian and insect-like creatures so things like mammals are strange to her in the same way that most people IRL feel about bugs. So she is a little bit weirded out by the kitty, but true to her Telvanni nature she is very curious about it. I mean... just think about all the weird shit cats do. Somehow in her mind this cat’s presence in her home has become a psychological challenge and she feels compelled to keep it around as a constant way to prove to herself that she Is Not In Fact freaked out by this small fluffy creature. The kitty meanwhile has enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle sleeping on cushions and eating fresh fish. 

As mentioned above the kagouti and guar usually accompany her on her travels unless she is going to a place where she isn’t certain the kagouti would be well-received (i.e. Temple territory). In those cases, she rides the guar and leaves the kagouti stabled at home. The vvardvark and the kitty are usually looked after by household attendants as well, freeing her to adventure as she will. 

also I realized none of her animals have names yet oops

When she finds out that the Hot Pepper Bantam Guar exists though she will lose her mind; it’s everything she loves in an animal.

[azriah]

How trustworthy is your oc? Would they ever change opposing factions?

Sovaliah is not very trustworthy... she’s not that deceptive (comparatively to other Telvanni) but she is still Telvanni and follows her own path, looking out for herself and herself only. Which naturally also includes the possibility stepping on inconveniences... 

She might change factions if she really felt driven on a spiritual level to do so, but I don’t see that being very likely so she is pretty committed to her Great House. 

[azriah]

16. Does your oc take their time as they travel, or are they purposeful? How do they survive in the wilds, especially if they aren’t hunter-types? How dependent is your oc on civilized society?

Sovaliah prefers to travel by guar or foot to any other means. It’s a publically acceptable method of taking joy in something that reminds her of the life that she used to live without really compromising her secrets. 

Of course, exactly for this reason, she IS quite capable of surviving in the wilds of Morrowind - even the Ashlands. I think she would have some more trouble in places that are beyond Morrowind because of all the different flora and fauna, but some of the key ideas are the same. 

Even moreso as a Telvanni she already leads a pretty isolated lifestyle soooo she can probably go either way on civilized society (though she prefers to participate in it)

[azriah]

How educated is your oc? Did their parents teach them, did they have a tutor or were they apprenticed to a master, or did they attend a university? What university? What are they educated in? How long did their education take? (Learned skills like blacksmithing count here too!), How religious is your oc? Do they come into conflict with others over their beliefs? If their patron deity told them to do something extremely undesirable or against their moral compass, would they do it? (For Sova)

2. How educated is your oc? Did their parents teach them, did they have a tutor or were they apprenticed to a master, or did they attend a university? What university? What are they educated in? How long did their education take? 

I would say Sovaliah’s education has a pretty wide breadth but it isn’t quite traditional. She has had an interesting life experience that has led her from the Ashlanders of Zainab Clan to service in House Telvanni.  Growing up an Ashlander, she gained many practical survival skills. She knows how to do several things associated with living a nomadic life, ranging from creating chitin-armor to cooking to stringing a bow to hunting to identifying safe plants to eat and more. 

Years later entering House Telvanni, her education took a different route. She was tutored for a time under a Telvanni Oathman that she worked for before she joined the Great House proper. Of course within House Telvanni there is a greater emphasis on learning whatever pursuit strikes your fancy. As a Spellwright now after two decades of service, she is an accomplished sorceress with room to rank up in the Great House. She has particular interests in tonal magic, destruction magic, and conjuration, as well as an interest in mycology and biological experimentation. 

5. How religious is your oc? Do they come into conflict with others over their beliefs? If their patron deity told them to do something extremely undesirable or against their moral compass, would they do it?

Religious faith is a very interesting topic for Sovaliah. This question touches on huge aspects of her character and background but I will try to keep it summarized succinctly...

She was born Zainab and lived the Ashlander way of life until she was a grown adult, so much of who she is as a person has been shaped by her early life. But something was always out of place with her when compared to her brethren, and she always seemed to want more. 

The Ashlander faith is obviously at odds with the Temple faith, but she has always held an interest in these beings that attained divine power from a standpoint of individual merit. This is especially notable since she, as a Zainab, interacted quite a lot more with House mer than other ashlander tribes, so she would have had more opportunity to learn things in passing. Add to that the fact that the Zainab Clan has always been in and around Telvanni territory, and combine that with her personality being fiercely individualistic and seeing worth on a personal basis than stereotype basis... and you can begin to kind of see how her Death By a Thousand Cuts split from the Ashlander faith started to take shape.

Because it was just that. There was no One thing that made her up and leave. It was a series of small influences that mounted over time into a decision that she felt she had no choice but to make. When she left her clan, she knew there would be no turning around or going back - this path was one way - but she felt, spiritually, that it was in her stars to do so. Of all her clan, the only ones that accepted her choice were the clan Wise-Woman and her own mother (with great sadness and understanding). Everyone else had a myriad of reactions ranging from contempt to grief to betrayal to indifference to disdain and more. 

Now, decades later, her passing interest in the Tribunal has evolved into a need to know more, reinforced by times she has visited Vivec City and Mournhold and felt the divine power radiating off of the living gods. It’s hard to deny their might when you can feel it in that way. 

Nonetheless she carries a lot of pain about her choice to leave the Zainab and her family, and it tends to take the most shape in her religious faith. She keeps a triptych in her house with other symbols for an ancestor shrine partly as a paranoid mark to obscure her secretive past and partly as a point of penance/reminder of her choice and to urge her forward on the path. She has found some interest lately in attending Tribunal sermons and Calling Hours to learn as much as she can, both for research purposes and to reinforce her own ‘cover story’. (She does not generally reveal that she is Zainab)