Name: Gwen

Gender: Female

Age: 25

Race: Human

Hair: Dark red, almost brownish

Eyes: Dark green, seem black in dim light

Skills: Astral Projection: Gwen has the ability to cast her spirit out of her body and then visit any place in the world that she wishes to. When she does this she has to be either sitting or lying down, otherwise when she leaves her body it crumples to the ground and she runs the risk of injuring herself. Gwen cannot touch or move anything with her spirit when she's projecting and there is no way to detect her presence in this form, unless one happens to be able to sense auras. She cannot communicate verbally or with her mind when projecting.

Drain: The only way she can defend her body when danger threatens it and she is projecting is to thrust her hands into the chest of her attacker and "squeeze" their heart. What this does is drain the life force from their body into Gwen's own. This disturbs her though and she uses it only if she has to, most of the time she tries to get back to her body to defend herself, unless there is no time, in which case she uses this attack. She can drain any amount of energy, but usually stops after the attacker has fallen unconscious, which gives her time to get back in her body to escape.

Hand-to-hand: A few times her body has become perilously close to danger while she was projecting and she barely made it back in time to defend herself. Those times the danger was too close for her to draw a weapon to defend herself, so she has perfected her hand-to-hand combat for times when she has time to make it to her body, but not quite enough and does not want to "drain" her attacker.

Sword/Knife-fighting: Gwen is somewhat proficient with a sword. She is competent enough to fight off most swordsmen, but lacks physical strength to take on bigger or more skilled opponents. She carries twin knives sheathed at the back of her belt that she is more comfortable fighting with, since they complement her hand-to-hand skills better than a sword.

Parents: Calren, father; Orena, mother

Siblings: Jexel, brother (younger, 17)

Home Village: Uru'baen (or Illirea, depending on the time of the RP)

Character Personality: Gwen is very determined, she hardly ever backs down from a fight. She loves to laugh and have fun, and doesn't mind being the brunt of other people's jokes, as long as they're tasteful. She speaks her mind and won't lie, though sometimes she will soften her words, if she feels sorry for whoever she's talking to. She doesn't like to hurt other people, but won't hesitate to defend herself or anyone she cares about. If she sees someone being cruel to another person or creature, she will give them a chance to stop, and if they don't immediately rectify their behavior, she shows them why they should have taken the warning. She's gentle, but she's fierce and has a strong sense of belief in what she thinks is right and what is wrong. She's a very energetic person and usually can only sit still for long if she's feeling ill, tired, or is trying not to draw attention to herself. She's not the most intelligent person around, but she's not stupid either; she catches onto more than some people think she does and often proves why people should never underestimate her.

Character History: Gwen was born to a rather normal merchant family inside Uru'baen's walls. She lived a relatively quiet life for most of her life, aside from the multiple times she had to rescue her crazy younger brother from one stunt or another. When she was twenty-two, her brother decided it would be funny to paint the Varden's sigil on the wall of Galbatorix's compound. He was apprehended in the middle of the act and sent to face death by the king's hand. Gwen's parents were devastated at the prospect of losing their only son, and Gwen couldn't bear the thought of losing her little brother, so she begged for a chance to speak to the king and get a lighter sentence for Jexel.

For some reason, Galbatorix consented to see her and she was taken from her home in the middle of the night to speak with him. Startled that he would expect to see her at such an hour, she nonetheless went with the guards, eager for a chance to rescue her brother. When she arrived at the castle the escorts showed her into the throne room where Galbatorix sat, with Shruikan taking up the entire wall behind him. He asked her what she could offer him in return for him sparing her brother's life. She replied that she had nothing, but that Jexel was only an ignorant teenager and shouldn't have his life taken away from him because of it. She pleaded with Galbatorix, saying Jexel could serve penance in his castle for however long he saw fit, and whenever he chose to release him, she would watch over him and make sure he never did anything like this again.

To her surprise, Galbatorix agreed to let Jexel go immediately, but on one condition. She had to agree to stay behind and become of of his test subjects. Though it disgusted her to consider it, she agreed. She was allowed to say her goodbyes to Jexel and to give him a message for their parents, but after that she was taken away and put in a cell under the castle, along with Galbatorix's other experiments.

Gwen was never sure how long she was there for, but she knows it was at least a year. In that time Galbatorix and his magicians performed many heinous spells and rituals over her until they achieved something Galbatorix had been attempting for years: the ultimate spy. The spells they performed on her left her with her astral projection ability, which Galbatorix then tried to force her to use to spy on the Varden. For a time he succeeded, and the number of deaths caused by the information she unwillingly provided sickened her.

About a year after the experiments on her were concluded, Galbatorix decided to move his secret spy to a new location where she could be guarded more closely while providing him information. Obsessed as he was with capturing a new Rider that had appeared (which he had tried to use Gwen to find information on and failed), he underestimated her and she was able to use her ability to drain life energy on her jailers one night while they were camping beside the road. After she escaped she wandered for a long time before she found an old mercenary who despised Galbatorix almost as much as she herself did. She stayed with the mercenary for a time, learning to defend herself. Before long though, the king's servants tracked her down, attacking one night while she and her mentor slept. Despite the sneak attack, they managed to kill all of the attackers, though the old man was wounded beyond help in the fight.

After his death she gathered up his old weapons and a few provisions, then set out on the road, hiding her identity everywhere she went. Occasionally she would use her power to gather information for the Varden in return for money to survive, but she never revealed exactly what it was she could do, she always made it sound like she was using a particularly powerful scrying spell.

In the time since she escaped from the king and buried her mentor, she has traveled much and learned many things. She has also come into contact with other escaped experiments of the king, and is shocked by how many there are. Her goal now is to use her abilities given to her by the king to take down his command structure of filthy magicians that aid him in his twisted experiments and to release the poor souls they have taken.

Physical Appearance: Gwen is about average height, she's about 5'7". Her hair is dark red and she never lets it grow past her shoulders. Most of the time she wears black pants and a long, charcoal grey tunic over a lighter grey shirt. She wears light, durable leather boots on her feet. She has a black cloak that she wears whenever she is in a town where there might be soldiers. Her eyes are a very dark green, reminiscent of pine needles.

Weapons: Mostly Gwen uses her hands and feet when she fights, but when she does use weapons, she relies heavily on the knives sheathed on the back of her belt. One has a longer, heavier blade than the other with a thicker hilt. The other is a smaller, much lighter throwing knife. When combined with the fighting style she prefers, they become a tremendously lethal pair. Her other weapon is a sword of average size and make. None of her weapons are flashy or have anything in their design that would make them stand out. All three weapons belonged to her mentor, but she took them for her own after his death, as she knows he would have wanted.

Fears/Weaknesses: She's terrified of someone moving her body while she's projecting. If she doesn't know where it is, she can't return to it and will be stuck wandering until either her body perishes (and her spirit with it) or she finds it and returns to it.

Dreams for the Future: To find her family. She's certain they were killed by Galbatorix after she escaped, but she wants to be sure, and if they were, she wants to visit where they are buried so that she can say a proper goodbye.

Reasons for Dreams: She was practically ripped away from them the night she agreed to become Galbatorix's plaything and she fears what might have been done to them after she fled.

Alignment: Against Galbatorix and any of his magicians that experimented on people the way she was experimented on.

Animal Companion: Thea- 1yr old dragonette. Thea found Gwen one day while she was sneaking through some woods, avoiding a troop of soldiers that was scouting the area nearby, looking for Varden troops. Thea is a Water attributed dragonette. Her scales are a rich shade of blue, which she insists has nothing to do with her element. Her eyes are lighter than her scales and have a hint of pale purple in them. She was intended to be the queen of her village after her mother stepped down, but she thought it would be much more interesting to follow Gwen, so she ran away, much to the displeasure of her mother, who was of the opinion that dragonettes should continue to remain hidden (unlike some of the other dragonette queens.)

Everything looks good from my end of things, and I Accept, but I have to ask, why Astral Projection? O.o