player information
● name: Tumbles
● age: 21+
● contact: plurk | bumbles#7533 @ discord
● other characters: Mantis (MCU)

character information
● name: Juniper Hymn
● canon: Original Character (Dungeons & Dragons)
● canon point: On the road with Fig
● age: 19

● (original) world:

Juniper is a warlock tiefling from the wonderful world of Dungeons & Dragons!

Born in the dead of winter, in the middle of an unforgiving and unexpected storm, Juniper came into this world under the watchful eye of the Raven Queen; the goddess of death, winter, and fate.

Or at least, that’s how her mother always described it, proud and wistful every time.

Those stories she remembers her mother weaving, they were always so fanciful. But Juniper remembers them all; stories about the gods, the world, and all sorts of great heroes and adventurers within it. She holds them close, even now (especially now) in her absence. They had a simple life, but a good life, even if they never seemed to stay long in one place, travelling around with a troupe of other collected misfits just trying to earn a living doing what they could. But from a young age, Juniper had always known that there was something- well, wrong with her. As a child her parents explained her strange staring at nothing to a young, wandering mind, and the conversations they would catch her having with absolutely no one as imaginary friends that she had invested far too much thought into. But the older she got, the more worried they became, and Juniper, at some point, figured out that she could see things that others could not.

It took her some time to understand, but before she had turned ten, Juniper knew that what she was seeing were the spirits of those who had passed. And she had learned to keep that to herself.

Juniper doesn't remember a time in her life when she was unable to see what she sees, and she still isn't certain as to why she sees them in the first place. But, she has her suspicions. As a young child, Juniper nearly died of exposure during a winter storm (not unlike the one her parents were caught in on the night of her birth), and she thinks that perhaps- well, perhaps, she really did die that night, or a part of her did, or almost did, or something, and that ever since, she has become forever entangled with the Ethereal Plane on some level. She doesn't really have a handle on it and struggles to live with her gift (can she even call it that? Is it better called a condition?). Some spirits are obvious, others are difficult for her to distinguish from the living. Sometimes she sees very few, others their company becomes so overwhelming that she feels as though she's descended into madness, and has difficulty with her perception on reality.

There was nobody who truly understood her experience. So Juniper turned to religion for help.

Barely a teenager, she became a priestess in service of goddess of death. Her parents never truly understood her motives, but were proud of her all the same for such determination at a young age. In the time she spent learning, practicing spiritual rites, studying anything she could regarding the dead, Juniper learned how better cope with things and how to help guide some spirits to rest. Juniper still experienced difficult times, but she was making progress.

It wasn't enough to prepare her for what was to come.

She had seen it, felt it, the moment they had rolled into town. It was a small town, meant only as a one night stop for supplies on their way to a bigger city, and the dead were restless in a way that Juniper hadn't experienced before. Most of them grabbed at her, sobbing and begging for her help, and although she did everything she could to put these souls to rest, there was something bigger, something more violent and dark that haunted the town, and she was not prepared to face it. None of them were.

In the middle of the night the town was razed by the undead. True undead, creatures raised from their death by someone or something Juniper has to this day never discovered. Real, solid, visible to everyone and not just her, and angry. They slaughtered the townsfolk, her friends, her family, her parents. And she was forced into uselessness when others needed her help, fully aware and watching through a lens of madness as a tortured soul possessed her body and kept her from reality, from helping, from doing anything beyond the confines of her own mind. By the time the spirit was expelled and Juniper had regained herself, it was too late. She was young. She was stupid. She was inexperienced, she couldn't stop it on her own, she wasn't strong enough, and there was nothing she could do but scream.

Frightened and broken, Juniper decided then that she would never entertain anyone, living or dead, again.

So for two uninterrupted years after the incident, Juniper lived in isolation. For two uninterrupted years, Juniper lived alone in a place so remote, days out from the nearest settlement, that not a single spirit or person came into her life there. It was lonely. Very, very lonely - but it was quiet, and it was real. But then the bubble was burst, when one day a young boy, lost, fearful, and searching desperately for his parents, somehow found his way to her. Finally given a reason to return to the world she'd left behind, Juniper escorted him home... only to discover that he was not what she had thought. He was the spirit of a boy recently passed, and she watched as he let go of her hand, bid her goodbye, climbed atop what remained of his funeral pyre, and departed from this world in peace.

The spirit in need of her help, that found her where none had before? The strange raven who came from nowhere to follow her all through the wilds? Juniper had been guided here. She knew she had been guided here. But what for? Why?

In this little town in the mountains, Juniper begins to learn what's happened in the world since her flight. It's where she is suddenly overcome with the relief of being among people again, a relief she hadn't expected and was entirely blindsided by, where she discovers the extent of her natural talents with the arcane, and where she makes a friend for the first time in a long time: another tiefling like her, a bard by the name of Fig. Perhaps because she wants to learn from him, or because he sees something in her, or because she no longer wants to be alone, or because he has a soothing effect on her, Juniper has latched onto him and his companionship.

Although the two of them haven't known each other long, they seem to get along well, and Juniper has opened up to him about the things she sees, and how she struggles sometimes with reality because of it. So he helps keep her grounded and sane, and in exchange, Juniper keeps him safe and alive. They learn from one another, even though Fig has taken to calling her his apprentice.

For now, while Juniper figures her shit out, this little party of two will do.

● abilities:

Here's her Character Sheet, if you want to get specific! As a broader explanation, she is a warlock (level 5) in service of The Raven Queen (Raven Queen patron, playtest material) and has a variety of spells in her repertoire, damage dealing (largely lightning and necromancy) and otherwise. Juniper does have proficiency in simple weapons (she carries a sickle, a light crossbow, and daggers) but as a pact of the tome warlock, focuses on spellcasting and building a collection of spells that can serve her and her companions in a variety of ways.

I will be playing her as closely to D&D rules as I can in the DWRP format! (Adhering to spell slot and level restrictions, short and long rests, maybe rolling ability checks during threads for shits and giggles because why not!)

● strengths:

In spite of everything, Juniper still has a compassionate heart. As far as D&D alignments go, she is best classed as true neutral, but she has leanings towards chaos and good - benevolent, but free spirited. She dedicated her life to helping the souls of departed rest once, and has resumed those duties now that she has returned to the world. At her heart, Juniper wants to help clear the world of negative energy and to help others who need it, even if she doesn't always make good decisions for herself.

For a warlock in service of the goddess of death, Juniper is a lively, inquisitive soul with a great desire to learn and to see the world. Largely courtesy of her imaginative storyteller of a mother, Juniper has always possessed a quality of curiosity and wonder about the world and the arcane. Now that she's returned to world of the living, so to speak, that curiosity has been rekindled. Flooded with the warmth of memory, she is beginning to embrace the young spirit she once was - or, perhaps more accurately, that young spirit she still is that has awoken from a long winter's sleep. Juniper is learning, in many different things.

But perhaps the best descriptor for her is that of survivor. Juniper is resourceful, strong, and smart - after all, she managed to survive solely off the land for two years with no one to help her. Yes, the night of her family's violent demise left her ruined for a time, but Juniper pulled herself up out of the mud and back on her feet. She has been given a new lease on life, and this time, she is determined to get her shit together (even if she doesn't know how yet).

● weaknesses:

Without a doubt, Juniper's greatest flaw is that she doesn't know what she wants. Juniper is young, largely inexperienced with life, and finds herself faced with decisions that she doesn't always know how to approach or make. Should she return to isolation, where she feels sane but bitterly alone? What is she supposed to be, to do with her life? Can she learn to handle her vision into the Ethereal Plane better, will she lose her mind if she tries, can she really help the dead and find peace herself? Is that what her queen wants?

This indecisiveness can and does lead her to question the right course of action she should take, and can make her seem unpredictable. She really is trying to do the right thing, but Juniper is struggling to understand what that is exactly and how best to do it, so it has lead her to make some poor decisions and because of it. There's certainly an air of stubbornness that shines through in this regard as well, as Juniper has been known to stick to shitty decisions rather than spend even more time deliberating on them.

This also leads Juniper to poor or clumsy decisions at times, largely due to her inexperience. Fig often describes her as his apprentice, which isn't entirely untrue - where his expertise comes from sheer determination throughout years of struggle, Juniper has a natural talent for the arcane that she's yet to figure out, and relies on him to help her understand. But she also learns through trial and error, and has taken quite a few hits trying to fight strong rather than smart.

● job skills (optional): Magically inclined with sparks of lightning and darkness/necromancy, dedicated to helping the dead (guiding spirits, ceremonial things, cleansing of negative energies, etc)... is there even anything like that?!
● housing (optional): No preference!

● network username: hymn

● network sample:

Happy Feast of the Dying?

[ Is she saying that right? Who knows (not her), but listen, Juniper doesn't really know what's going on here and she thinks being festive is probably better than having an actual existential crisis, which is likely what's going to happen if she doesn't keep herself busy. ]

Where can I find a shrine to the Raven Queen? [ Wait shit ] This- this is a celebration for her, right?

[ There's about a thousand other things she wants to ask here now, but decides to go with what's most important. ]

How do I- find people, with this thing? Someone told me I may be able to locate people? [ A census? Is there a census she can read? Is it a location spell? Then, quietly, ] Fig? Where are you? [ Then quickly back to normal voice, ] Have the undead hurt anyone here?

[ A longer pause. She's processing. It's a lot. ]

I need more incense, and powdered silver. Sage. Sweetgrass. Where can I find those?

● prose/action sample:

[ There is a certain sense of familiarity within the strangeness of this place, but mostly- no, it's strange.

The line between the Ethereal and Material Plane in this place is blurry and strained. It is alarming at first, to be thrust into a world where, for all she knows, this is the norm - but from what she overhears and sees from those living here already, no, this is not normal. Usually, people here don't see spirits the way that she does, freely and constantly, but she has arrived at a very special, bizarre time of year in which the living and the dead coexist.

It's unsettling and comforting all the same.

The people here are celebrating the transition from life to death, and yet she has heard no mention of the Raven Queen. Does she have another name here? It is one of many things running through Juniper's mind as she wanders, cautiously, through the people and spirits in the streets. Casts a protection spell on herself in a moment of panic when she sees a spirit come too close to her. Begins burning a bundle of sage in an area she finds particularly heavy with spirits, seeming largely unfocused on the living people she weaves around.

Stops in front of someone. Stares, holding the burning sage in front of her. ]

What are you searching for?

[ Only, she's not talking to the person in front of her - she's addressing a spirit that this person may or may not have noticed is hovering over them like a cloud. ]