| Player Name | Rachael Huxford |
|---|---|
| Affiliations | Cavi's Cafe & The City of Ravel |
| Species | Kitsune |
Savile Poole (or Savvy to their friends -- never Poole) is a nine-tailed Kitsune tailor who quite purposefully stumbled into an adventure they were not prepared for. They aim to bring the liturgy of high fashion to the adventuring world -- even if they have to die trying.
History[edit | edit source]
The story that every Poole hears in front of the fire on a chilly evening, wrapped in a quilt, and darning yet another sock (which always seems to go missing before the next laundry day, doesn't it?) goes as follows:
Ever since the first creature pulled themselves out of the cosmic (or divine depending on your predilection) primordial ooze, the Kitsune of this plane had begun their first steps. Ever since the first creature banged another over the head with a nice stick, Quelmar had taken its. And ever since the first leaf fell on a creature as they lounged, and they thought "oh, I rather like the way that looks", the Pooles had taken theirs.
This family of Pooles is one of the first lines of weave in the tapestry of Ravel -- literally. They were charged with weaving the first tapestry (currently hanging in city hall) of Ravel back when the city (which was then just a group of artists looking for commune) was founded. Of course their kin have spread far and wide both in the city and out since then, but they built the clothing district with their own paws, and have always owned that beautiful starry sky shop on the corner in the heart of town. The Pooles all love that shop, and you can always find any of the numerous generations of Pooles inside. Although they all carry an ageless quality about them, you can always identify which generation they come from by the number of tails they carry -- the more tails, the younger the generation (be careful of the twins though, their tails got split between them and they are not in fact as venerated as they claim)
Eventually, when their last tail grows to its full length, each Poole gets to name a focus for themselves. Some choose a particular style of garment or fabric, others choose instead to put their time into the business side of things, or into the dyeing and creation of new clothing materials, but all stay within the family trade. Savile was no exception, and at rather young age grew out their nineth tail (rather faster than the twin who attempted to trick everyone with a rather impressive fake). Since they could toddle, Savile had been fascinated by the adventurers and wanderers perusing the armor and amulets in the clothing district. It was only natural that by the time they fluffed out, their fascination would turn to dedication.
Savile pioneered stylish adventuring accessories in Ravel. Previously the thought was if it works, and will inevitably get dirty on the road (or dented by the rogue), then why bother also making it pretty. Savile was just beginning to prove though that they could sew together adventuring pieces of both stylish form and deadly function. Yet, never having been on an adventure themselves, they occasionally missed the mark a bit. While a cloak which dazzled like the sun on command sounded like the perfect paladin accessory straight from the pages of Selune, it seemed to be a bit impractical given that each individual metallic scale not only clanked louder than the bell at sight of a storm, but also had the bad habit of reflecting the actual sun into the eyes of teammates at any unfortunate angle. It only took two or three of these mishaps before Savile decided (imagine this in your best Quimbleton voice) there is Research to be done!
So Savile sold off as much of their first failed line as they could, and set off to sea with Captain Crezzerin to waters unknown to find adventure of their own.
Acts in the Fantasial Freeze[edit | edit source]
During the Freeze, Savile did everything they could to serve the people of Ravel as her ancestors had. She planted the first garden at Cavii's Cafe to help feed the masses and spent hours studying with Quimbleton to learn to imbue the healing arts into amulets. But something, or someone, seemed to have loosened a thread in the weave of Savile's fate. As they ventured with Luv into the Unravel, Savile met this dark presence for the first time as it took Sven, and wove it into their cloak. Thereafter, she seemed to have gained the power of their fallen friend -- the ability to create a fiery breath, and managed to save a prophet named Pietro in the process. Pietro, however, had also drawn the attention of the cold and as Pietro too twisted into a Wendigo before Savile's eyes, the second friend in as many days was consumed by flame. In a desperate attempt to push back, to re-weave the frayed tapestry of Ravel, Savile then spent weeks braving the darkest alleys to experiment and seek out the antidote for the terrifying disease -- even converting their garden to grow the necessary fauna. It didn't like that.
Tinker Tailor, Eldritch Eye[edit | edit source]
The Events of Paraska Manor from Savile's POV[edit | edit source]
Gods, it was cold. And it knew their names.
As Savile stood transfixed by Luv scrawling all of their deepest desires, no needs, on the wall in that gaudy neon blue paint, she couldn’t help but glance over at Kara – the whole reason they were in this mess. Savile remembered that flash of fear in Kara’s eyes when they first gazed upon the never-ending freeze together. How it rooted icy in the center of Kara’s gaze until a slow, determined fire burned it away. In that moment, Kara turned back towards Savile, and the heat warmed her soul, giving her the courage she needed to fight side by side with Kara back to the damn city they had both tried to flee in the first place. That day had sewn their fates together as far Savile was concerned. So when she heard Kara was headed towards yet another frost – there was no way she was headed there alone.
Now, however, watching Luv’s innate empathy twisted into this curse? Or power? Savile was torn. If Luv’s abilities could be enhanced and amplified, maybe Savile’s could be too. Maybe they could finally create something truly inspired. Maybe she could finally prove to the rest of the Pooles that their adventuring gear business was worth the effort – that people deserved more that just style, but safety as well. Wait, was that selfish? N̸̲̐Ö̶́͋ Either way, Quimbleton must be rubbing off on her because she needed to know more.
.
As she turned to ask Quimbleton just what the hells was going on, he was gone and instead a seamstress’s mannequin stood before her dressed in an outfit she didn’t recognize. She could hear Quimblton’s normally rocky voice reaching a frantic fever pitch as he explained something that clearly terrified him, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the masterpiece in front of her. How did they get here? How long had she been staring at this? She needed to turn to Quimbleton and find out why he was so upset. He was usually right about these things. But this outfit was the most clever bit of craftsmanship she had ever seen. Textiles, and what was that? Leather? Had been stitched seamlessly together to make a playground of texture and functionality. Extra protection in the places that needed it, and style in all the others. Gods, this material was so soft, and it seemed warm to the touch like a chair in front of a warm fire – like Kara – Of course! Why hadn’t she thought of this before?? If you could imbue a material with the essence of a being, then that material could store all of their innate protections. Kara’s fire, Quimbleton’s intelligence, and Luv – Y̶͙͋E̵̛̺S̷̬̀ ̷̢̂G̴̜̃E̵̠̕T̸̥̓ ̷̝̚Ț̶̊H̸̾͜EM
Savile turned just as her name tumbled from Luv’s mouth and floated in the air between them. A single thread. Savile followed it to Luv and saw it fractal and web around their forearm which twisted beneath her light touch to change between many changeling skins. The perfect material. Hadn’t Kara been asking for a bit of new armor? Savile was faintly aware of a commotion beginning around them. But Luv, the innate protector, could shield Kara forever this way. Could let Kara wear any skin, disguise at will, disappear into any crowd –
~ S A V I L E ~
Savile felt the letters scrawl themselves into her own flesh, and heard Kara’s voice like a lightning bolt to her soul. There it was again – that determined flame behind Kara’s stare, except this time it was freezing into self-loathing as Kara’s gaze fell on Savile’s now red and bloody fur. She flicked her eyes up to Luv’s – much closer than she remembered them being – but Luv was staring at the claw marks Savile’s tight grip had left in her arm. She looked to Quimbleton, desperate for any explanation, but she saw bright blue fear coating his gaze like frosted glass as he shakily asked her to drop the bone awl in her hand – what bone awl? When had she picked up that? Something was wrong. Very wrong. It was time for them to go. Stay. They needed to RUN. S̶̈́͘T̴̹́Ȁ̵̃Ý̵̡ Why weren’t they listening to her? Why weren’t they leaving??!! She turned to Luv to beg them to just get out, but that thread that once connected them had spread now, weaving a knotted web around Luv that she was already trapped in like a fly. Immobilized and ready for her gentle, artistic touch. To be transformed into a stunning new work of art by her hands. The most beautiful leather armor for –
Savile bit her tongue hard as the ground fell out from beneath her and she watched with a mix of horror and relief as all her friends fled. It was for the best. Hopefully they could make it out. Something was wrong with her. She couldn’t stop herself, however, as she selfishly asked them once last time to take her too. Please, S̷̓̄ ̸̛̄T̶̞̓ ̶̈́̿Á̵̀ ̴̰͗Y̵͈̋ She could have sworn she heard Luv’s footsteps falter for a second. But all too soon she was alone. Alone with her thoughts, and all the time in the world to play. To design. The possibilities began to dance her mind’s eye. One blowt was powerful, surely, but what if you could combine their powers? Wouldn’t the shell of a turtle of blowt make such a nice chest piece for a whalefolk? Savile slowly reached out her hand, and the web answered -- molding easily beneath her touch. Yes, she could certainly stay here awhile – and learn.
