Name: Anastasia Florenz
Gender: Female
Pokemon: Umbreon
History: ((This begins with a description of the society in which Anastasia was born. This may help to explain Anastasia's personality, but is not absolutely necessary. If you would like to skip it, it will not hurt your understanding of the character terribly. Scroll down until you see bolded underlined letters.))
Anastasia was born into a closed, exclusively Pokemon religious society, in which the citizens were required to emulate a medieval life-style to the best of their ability. There were three basic social classes within this castle-state: The nobility, the military, and the working class. These were further divided into the Royalty, the Aristocracy, the Knighthood, the Militia, the Mercantile Class, and the Serfs. The Mercantile class, by far the largest of the six, was then divided into countless positions, including a class of artists, artisans and architects. The serfs were either house-hold servants for the upper classes, farmers, or fishermen. Like a traditional fife-dome, wealth was concentrated primarily in the top two "noble classes;" unlike a traditional fife-dome, however, Anastasia's city was placed in an almost ideal location for commerce and produce: The farm-land was rich, and good for almost any kind of agricultural exploit; the ocean lay a mere two miles to the east of the city, where a port and fishery were kept in proper working order; gold and iron were found in abundance within a small range of mountains surrounding the castle and its city, and the list went on. The city very quickly became very rich, and the standards of living for even the peasantry were very high--for a society of the middle-ages, anyway.
The actual religion which kept these pokemon wandering in the Dark Ages is a bit of a mystery, even to the highest clerical officials in the church. It dates, not surprisingly, to an early period of the Dark Ages, and few written records were made during the time of its founding; none survived. It was only through word of mouth that the ideas survived. Actual doctrine is subject to much debate; the only thing which everyone seems to agree upon, is that there is a God, and that His will is expressed through the will of the people, and that He created the royalty to interpret that will and rule. Those who tried to break this mold, to destroy The Royalty or deny The People, were eventually given what they wanted, but at the expense of their happiness and the stability of their society.
By the time Anastasia was born, the religion held little sway over the society it had created and preserved from modernity. Instead, tradition, protocol, and law ran the day-to-day lives of the citizenry, and these powers were just as stern, and much colder than even the most conservative god. The class-structure was strictly preserved, supposedly for the good of everyone. If the society was to be guaranteed plenty of fish to eat, they reasoned, then every fisherman's son had to become a fisherman. If citizens were allowed to pursue whatever profession or life-style suited them, society would quickly become a dysfunctional mob of self-seeking capitalists (a word scorned by the rare scholar knowledgeable enough of outside world to know the meaning of the word), with no interest whatsoever in supporting his community. They placed the good of the collective far above the good of the individual, and every citizen was expected to disregard his or her own desires, and fulfill his or her alloted role for the good of society. To make sure that this happened, uniform class-dress became mandatory (nudity having been illegal since time immemorial), and only marriages arranged by the parents were seen as legal.
(((ANASTASIA'S STORY BEGINS HERE. EVERYTHING THAT FOLLOWED WAS RELATIVELY SUPERFULOUS CLARIFICATION AND EXPLANATION)))
It was in this regard that the puritanical powers of Anastasia's home destroyed her. She was born into the very highest class in the city, that of the Royalty. She was the fourteenth daughter of the Lord's first wife, and enjoyed all the privileges and wealth of a princess. In many ways, she was one of the most exorbitant creatures of the planet. Even the pet Pokemon of billionaire-capitalists in the Hoenn region did not see as much money pass through their estate as she. As such, she grew up used to power, and used to indulgence. She could have whatever she wanted, almost without limit. However, there was a limit, as she would learn at the age of sixteen. Even she could not break the rules society imposed.
As fate would have it, the girl fell desperately in love with an Espeon by the name of Henry. Spoiled as she was, she made no secret of her desire for his companionship. However, that same Blind Fate, as it is wont to do, had made this love impossible: Henry was a knight. Yes, he was a heroic knight, one of the finest the city had ever seen. However, he remained a knight, and by the mandate of the city's laws, he was required to marry a lady of the Fealty, whose sole job would be to care for his armor, to train with him, and to see to it that he performed his knightly duties to the best of his ability. Anastasia had not been born to this class, had not been raised for this role, and would be entirely incapable of performing it. She was denied her request.
Predictably, Anastasia was not about to take no for an answer. After much pleading, she despaired, and fell into solitude and depression. She refused to eat, and quickly grew pale and thin, a mere phantom of what she once was. Her fur lost its gleam, her eyes lost their glow. She did this to herself intentionally, to spite her father, and to convince him of his fault. The lord, however, was of a harder temperament than she had counted on. The day came when he would have no more of it. Enraged at his daughter's impudent behavior, he decided to exercise his own authority, and punish his daughter, by stripping the two of them of their rank and banishing them, together. As he put it, "You may have him, but only at the cost of all that you possess."
Ironically, Henry was not even aware of the Lady's desire until this royal mandate was passed. Naturally, he despised the Umbreon, for what she had done to him, and for the selfishness and disregard for principle she had shown. When she followed him, and refused to leave him, he attacked her, and left her, bruised and battered, behind him.
Anastasia nearly died during her first days alone. She wandered, aimlessly and helplessly, through the wilds surrounding her home. She was completely incompetent as to survival as a wild Pokemon, but she was fortunate. As it happened, the level of the wild Pokemon in her area was very low, and she met very few problems there. She had at least been taught to fight in her Castle. With the help of a few Pidgeys and Ratatas, (who were doubtlessly seeking her protection in exchange for their services), she quickly learned to forage for food, and to find shelter during the colder months. In a short while, she was transformed into a wild Pokemon.
This transformation was not nearly as dramatic as the change her personality underwent during this time, however. She became quiet, and introspective. She was no longer melodramatically wasting away for her father, but still she wasted. Though she ate, and did all she could to keep herself alive and comfortable, she became little more than a shadow. Once she learned to live alone, she did so. She avoided other Pokemon, and kept to herself. Every once in a while, she came out to talk to the occasional, exceptionally peculiar Pokemon, but still, she was becoming an absolute introvert.
Lately, she has begun to combat this tendency. Being alone has had the unlikely effect of diminishing her ego. It has made her, of all things, lonely. Still, even when she comes into contact with other Pokemon, she rarely talks, and never does so about herself.
Personality:
(I have my own little way of developing a personality... This is more for myself than you all. It's a system I use for both creating and describing a personality. Hope you don't mind!)
A. Goal: Anastasia's goal, simply put, is to find a goal. Before, she had lived to please herself. Now, life has taught her the unworthiness of this aim--but it has failed to give her a superior alternative. She is a wanderer, who seeks, if anything, something to aspire to.
E. Attitude Towards Life/Death:
~1. Self: Anastasia fears death as much as anyone, but she doesn't hold the same solemn reverence that most people have. She believes in the Deity and in life after death, but she also believes herself doomed to damnation. According to her religion, banishment from her society guarantees her this. However, with this idea comes resignation. Since she can't avoid it, she thinks of it little. When she does think of it, it is with a sigh, but only a sigh. If her death came, that sigh would probably not be a breath heavier.
~2. Others: Anastasia is not a hero. She is not a defender of the weak, and she will not sacrifice herself for another. Although she mourns the death of any creature, she will do little to prevent it.
G. Attitude Toward Money/Power: Anastasia sees little value in either. She prefers, of course, to be the most powerful Pokemon in her territory for security, but she does not crave power or influence. She can live with defeat, and finds battling in and of itself, an unsatisfying endeavor.
H. Attitude Toward Work: Anastasia was made extremely lazy by her life as a princess. However, living alone in the wild is a wearisome task, and requires effort. She is not alien to hard-labor in this regard. however, she never could teach herself to love work, and there is scarcely a task she will not greet with a groan. That said, every job she groans at, she can complete.
I. Attitude Toward Danger: Anastasia flees from danger. She sees no reason to risk harm if harm can be avoided. She is completely selfish.
J. Attitude Toward Fighting: She will do it if necessary, but she finds no pleasure in battle.
K. Attitude Toward Anger/Forgiveness: Anastasia does not get angry; she gets bitter. Although she is not prone to fiery outbursts (even when a pampered princess, her nature taught her to sulk for what she wanted), she will hold a grudge for a lifetime. The longer she holds such resentment, the stronger it becomes. Slowly, over time, these feelings are likely to affect the way she treats the person for whom they are held. If it gets bad enough, she is not afraid of making enemies. There is no real moral boundary for her, as far as hurting other people goes. If she wants to hurt a person, and she can hurt that person, and there aren't any significant consequences barring her, she will hurt that person.
G. Self-image: Anastasia thinks very little of herself--but she thinks less of everyone else. She is one of those cynical, pessimistic bastards who bemoans her own faults on one decibel, and wails the the faults of the world three hundred decibels louder.
Other:
There are three unusual features to Anastasia: First, she can speak perfect English. As her home kept up significant trade with the human nations, being able to communicate with them was absolutely necessary. Second, she evolved during twilight, when the moon and sun were balanced in the sky. Although she evolved into an Umbreon, her eyes are a pale blue, like those of an Espeon, and a scarlet jewel sits in place of the typical golden ring on her forehead. Third, like everyone in her old home, she wears clothing. Upon her banishment, she had one last dress sewn for her, in the Elizabethan fashion. It is mainly black, but is covered with tiny, crisscrossing lines of golden silk, which, when seen completely unwrapped and unfurled, is a sketch of a magnificent Espeon, dressed in a knight's full brigalia.This is draped around her, like clothing was around noble horses of the middle-ages ( https://www.aceros-de-hispania.com/image/marto/armour-12b.jpg ). Her neck is surrounded by a small ruff, again typical of the Elizabethan era. ( https://www.elizabethancostume.net/images/ruffmake/ruffman2.jpg ) The inside of the dress, which can be seen around the collar, and when the bottom of the dress sways in the wind, is lined with scarlet silk.
ROLEPLAY
((Whew! I'm a little out of practice, and writing that out has tired me out! I'll edit in a roleplay response later if no one replies. But don't feel any pressure to wait for me... I'll just respond to whatever the situation is when I get on.))
