Hello! I've yet to manage to read all the way through the thread, but so far I have had a look at the character compilation as well as the first 15 pages of this thread. Everyone's characters were great to read about, but a few people who exceptionally stuck out to me, in a positive way, were the icelandic falconer, the finnish-estonian(?) stamp maker/beekeeper and the accordion-troll. There were others as well of course and I might drop some favorable comments on them as I keep reading.
I thought I would share my meager attempt with you. She was originally supposed to be an OC, then she became more like a self-insert during character design.
A couple further words: Her clothes are inspired by estonian national clothing, but heavily simplified to be more suitable for day-to-day wear. She has another set with all the little frills and embroidery set aside for special occasions.
Age: -
Name: Airi Viiding
Nationality: Finnish-Estonian
Area of birth: Saimaa
Gender: Female
Immunity: Yes
Profession: Civilian herbalist
Languages: :estonia: :finland: and a tiny bit of :sweden:
Airi is part-estonian from both lineages, with the main bulk of her non-finnish ancestry being comprised of the descendants of Helsinki’s immigrants, post-rash refugees and one seaman in the form of her paternal great-grandfather. She has four living siblings in total, however only the very youngest of them – Asko – is still residing in her home village. Airi’s sister married off to another settlement whilst her older half-brothers left with some others to prepare Gogland for permanent settlement and have yet to return.
Airi is a devout worshipper of both finnish nature spirits and the estonian pagan god of Taara. She does her best to, within reason, keep the songs and traditions of her people alive for the future generations and dreams of someday seeing Tallinn – even if from afar. Her family used to own some Old World books, as well as the memoirs of her seafaring great-grandfather, but those were all sold to a traveling danishman when she’d been a little girl.
Her main role in the community is that of a healer. Although more knowledgeable of pharmaceutical medicines than an average person she is one of those people who strongly prefer „natural“ remedies for non-life threatening ailments. Her backyard is filled to the brim with herbs and the occasional cucumber plants, which she diligently takes care of during the summer. At winter, however, the woman dons a pair of skis and a rifle, joining the scouts in locating and eliminating any beasts who might’ve wandered too close to their home.
The finnish side of her ancestry gives Airi some meager affinity with spells, which she uses to it’s fullest potential when healing or warding her home. However, despite this, she is definitely not a proper mage.
More sketches of her: Click Airi's preferred method of dealing with injuries*, her winter clothes and a ski-chase after a rabbit-beast across frozen Saimaa.
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*My mother wraps whole horseraddish leaves across her limbs to combat joint pain - I took it to the logical extreme.