Elana

Elana is the half-Shur/half-Akyr girl who is the apprentice of Ankou. She hails from an island in the Shur empire. Her mother was a cartographer who worked alongside Jason and Ko and her father was a prince. She is the other main character alongside Anzu.

Description
Elana is a female half-Shur, half-Akyr girl, roughly about seventeen years of age (relative to Earth humans). Being a half-breed, she possesses features of both species. At first glance, she would look mostly Shur, however where humanlike ears would be, she has longer, pointy fuzzy ears, similar to an Akyr and she possesses a short, fluffy tail. She also has small, tawny horns. She looks like an Akyr in their human form, but has no mane or excess body hair that would be abnormal for humans, and her tail would be significantly shorter than most Akyr making her obvious as a half-breed to most individuals at a glance. Her skin is a pale peach color and her hair is a light pink. Her eyes are blue.

In the beginning of the story, she wears a red cloak with an intricate golden trim, light pink tunic with a brown leather belt, and beige pants, similar to Anzu's. She wears thigh-high leather boots that are reinforced and carries a staff.

Personality
Elana seems to be a strongly independent young woman, even from her first introduction. Though greatly inexperienced, Elana carries herself with a particular amount of pride and flair, believing that respect is often earned by the confidence one displays - even if they actually aren't! However, this is mostly an act. Elana has very little confidence in her own knowledge of her duties as Ankou's apprentice and expresses her insecurities regarding this to individuals which she's close to or those who pressure her once asked. However, this may also be somewhat disingenuous, as Elana seems adequately adept enough to perform the tasks Ankou assigns her, even if the frequency of these requests are rare. What is often, however, is that Elana feels as if she is abusing her powers instead of using them correctly, but Ankou does little to correct her on that.

In truth, the traits that best describe Elana are her lack of confidence, but her great amount of determination. She becomes irritable when she doesn't know the correct answer on something and struggles asking for assistance when she needs to - though is almost always thankful when she recieves it. She isn't one who is afraid to admit her own mistakes when she makes them or blame her failures on others. Sometimes, however, she will get irritable or snippy with someone who is pestering or pressuring her.

Elana is a lot more aggressive and is willing to tolerate less than Anzu when it comes to putting one's foot down, but struggles reacting when the situation might need something more than brute force, a strong argument, or a stern look, something that Anzu's spontenaeity helps remedy. She remarks that she really isn't all that great with people and has to meticulously plan her actions if she doesn't want to mess them up. Elana is intolerant of passiveness, something that puts her at odds with Ankou at times, and even Anzu's demeanor very early in the story. She is convinced that Anzu needs to get out of his routine and do something about his situation in order to fix it and is critical of his unambitious lifestyle, even if she claims that she wishes to help him. Elana is very much a person of action, even if that comes from the insecurity and false bravado she possesses.

Elana is far more even-tempered and carries herself more confidently than Anzu, despite all of her flaws. She tends to remain level-headed in most situations, and tries her best not to show others when she's suffering. She believes, much like Ankou, that people might look to her as an example and she has to do her best not to portray her master as inept. She feels quite a bit of pressure from this and because of it, tends to not give herself time or room to try and form bonds so that others do not see past her facade.

Elana tends to follow a strict code of morals and ethics. Unlike Anzu, however, Elana will step in to fight when the situation calls for it.

History
(Work in Progress!)

Anzu
Anzu met Elana by pure luck. Saving her from a guard who was persuing her after she assaulted him with magic for making unwanted sexual advances on her in an alleyway, the two became fast friends after she spent some time conversing with him. Expressing concern for Anzu's lack of ambition and his interest in the kidnappings, she convinced him to meet up with her master Ankou and discuss whatever information he knew. Elana and Anzu compliment each other well. Elana is tough and determined, while Anzu is spontaneous and loyal. The two are successful as teammates and come to rely on each other quickly, despite the fact they haven't known each other for long. Elana's exact feelings regarding Anzu aren't known, but when he isn't around, she remarks that she feels that her life is a bit emptier without him. She is also far more relaxed and confident when Anzu is around and Anzu is far braver and more determined around her. He is strongly supportive of Elana, whereas Elana is strongly protective of Anzu in turn, and their loyalty to each other is unquestionable.

Ankou
WIP

Racial

 * Elana does not possess the natural shapeshifting abilities of an Akyr.


 * Longevity - Because she is half-Akyr, Elana will not likely grow old.

Magical

 * Spirit Magic - Elana possesses the ability to use Spirit-Magic, which allows her to manipulate magic from the Spirit World and communicate with the dead.


 * Spiritflame - A dangerous magical fire formed by volatile spirit energy. It has enough force to blast steel off walls and knock a grown human unconcious. If used too liberally on a target, they tend to attract hostile spirits and curses, which feed on the life-force of the unfortunate victim.


 * Spiritmend - Magic which can be used to cure curses and heal wounds on the living. It can also be used on both the living and dead to bring them into a state of tranquility and ease pain.

Proficiencies

 * Sword-Fighting - Elana is skilled with a rapier and has elegant, graceful footwork, although she much prefers using magic since it is simply more convenient.

Trivia



 * Elana's name and role as Anzu's friend is an homage to Ascend's old concept - Night Hunter. In Night Hunter, there was a NYC policeman named Alan Johnson who becomes Leo's (Anzu's) friend after rescuing him.