Forgotten Freedom:Terra
Terra[edit]
Terra Branford
True Neutral Sovereign of Shadow and Magic
Druid/Sorceress/Psion
During her psychosis following Lisa's death, Terra was watched by Motoko, an angry young woman assigned to the task by Rose. After Terra recovered, Motoko began trying to get her back into the dating scene, believing this to be the best way to prevent her from falling back into depression. In a "shocking" twist that was a surprise to no one, in the end it was Motoko herself that Terra was finally willing to give herself a chance to love.
Being both a fervent worshipper and intimate companion, Motoko quickly became a large part of Terra's life. While Terra still wondered whether she truly loved Motoko, the opposite was not in doubt. This led to a very awkward and troubling situation for Terra.
Lisa came back.
Whether or not she loved Motoko with the same way Motoko loved her, Terra was still her friend. It worried her greatly to have to leave Motoko, but Lisa was her soulmate and there was no question Terra would pick her. Needless to say, Motoko took this very badly, but Lisa was able to work out a solution that both solved one problem and created another. Lisa agreed to share Terra with Motoko so long as Terra shared Lisa with Michael. While very reluctant, Terra agreed to this, her trust in Lisa winning out over her protective (and possessive) side. Where things go from here is anyone's guess.
Terra Branford
True Neutral Sovereign of Shadow and Magic
Druid/Sorceress/Psion
In a single, devastating moment, Terra suffered the loss of her beloved wife, Lisa. In a fit of utter rage, Terra managed to manifest on Eberron as a true Goddess, not merely an avatar. Appearing as a Great Shadow Wyrm, she rampaged across the face of Eberron in her grief. Whether it was really her, what remained of her soul, or merely a memory is unknown, but Lisa is the one who quelled her anger.
Thanks to Lisa, Terra has recognized her need for worshippers to fuel her real power. Her form of worship, however, is unique. Unlike other deities, she is fueled by the bonds forged by those around both her and those who worship her. As it stands, the majority of her power comes from her friends and family, and she has yet to expand much beyond this base.
Terra is currently locked in a deific battle with Tiamat, Khyber's avatar, who has possessed and consumed an old friend, Captain Rose's former wife, Achika. The two do not face off physically, but match wits on a grand scale. So far, Terra has managed to stalemate her, but how long she can keep it up is unknown.
Though encouraged by Elina's freedom from the Shadow's grip, Sarah and Tirmek's burgeoning relationship, and the strength of her youngest four in the face of unbearable loss, she is still troubled. Lisa was almost literally her whole world, and she fears she will be unfit to raise their children by herself. She sees Lisa from time to time, encouraging her, but much like when she calmed the raging deity, whether Lisa is truly speaking to her or is merely a manifestation of Terra's mind is unclear.
Update: Except for the time she calmed Terra's rage, it appears the Lisa Terra was speaking to was an elaborate illusion created by Tiamat in order to weaken and partially control her. In the final confrontation between Tiamat and the crew, Terra was able to see though the illusion and come to the aid of her children. Unfortunately, even she could not stand against Tiamat. As part of a punishment/torture for being such a nuisance, Tiamat began consuming her. She was saved from this only by Bahamut's arrival and Sarah vanquishing the avatar of Khyber with the Syberis Dragonmark of Death. The pain still torments Terra from time to time, but she has finally come to terms with Lisa's death.
Terra Branford
True Neutral Female Elf/Half-Fiend/Half-Celestial (Kalashtar influence)
Druid/Sorceress/Psion
Though she dislikes advertising it, Terra is in reality the newest goddess of Eberron. The only one of the Sovereigns to pay homage to neither Good or Evil, she is known as either Dal Terra the Gardener or the Keeper of Shadowmatter. She retains her body as her avatar, preferring to spend her life with her family for as long as it holds out. She is bound by the rules for deities laid down by the Progenitor Dragons, and cannot access anything even remotely resembling her full power for more than a few minutes (her alternate form, see previous update below). The ironic part of this status involves Lisa. Lisa worships the Silver Flame, but sleeps with a goddess of the Host. Even more ironic, despite Terra clearly being the stronger of the two, there is no doubt that Lisa is in charge. Terra will do anything and everything in her power to make Lisa happy, even to the point of absurdity. For her part, Lisa only really takes advantage of this in their 'games'.
On top of birthing Elina and siring Sarah, Terra also carried the triplets Nina, Deis, and Scias, and sired Momo. The four have presented new challenges and delights for her and Lisa, and they enjoy these new additions to their family immensely.
Sarah and Elina have presented a new set of difficulties as well. Sarah is taking her relationship with Tirmek to the next level. Though both Terra and Lisa know Tirmek would never do anything bad to her, they are concerned the pair might take things too fast. The disconnect between their children's minds and bodies ages may skew the perception of maturity on both sides.
As far as Elina is concerned, she has found what she believes to be love at first sight in Yuan. Since little is known about this young man, Terra and Lisa are extremely worried. His cordial and reserved behavior towards Elina has helped to put their minds at ease, but the unknowns about the situation, as well as Elina's obvious near-desperation to take things further with him, still have them fretting.
On a deeper level, Terra feels responsible for the terrible things that have happened to Elina in recent years. The title of both Chosen of the Shadow and Promise Breaker were originally hers to take. Through her actions and choices, she denied those roles. They have since been passed on to Elina, and Terra has found the price of her own freedom to be steep indeed.
"I don't believe in fate."
New and improved write up:
Terra Branford
NE Female Elf/Half-Fiend (variant)/Half-Celestial (variant) with Kalashtar influence
Druid 13/Sorceress 18/Psion 9
Returning from her 10 year honeymoon with Lisa, Terra has changed greatly. The competing influences of the Demonic and Angelic energies infused into her being have been altered so that, instead of cancelling each other out when used in tandem, they share a more synergistic relationship. The transformation has granted her a pair of wings, angelic in appearance yet demonic in form (think white feathered bat wings), that she can hide or reveal at will. This, for lack of a better term, "mutation" also allows her to change her appearance. When she takes this alternate form (in addition to the wings), her green hair turns pink and her yellow eyes become solid gold, also gaining claws and multiple tentacles.
During their travels, Terra was forced to purge her system of the familiar Terrek had given her as a wedding present. Beneath all the enhancements Terrek had built into it, it contained the rather unfortunate side effect in the form of subtle Charm spells whenever they spoke, as well as preventing her from attacking him should the situation ever arise. She considered this restriction and potential manipulation unacceptable and gave up her Soulknife levels in order to rid her body of the familiar's effects.
On top of all this, Terra and Lisa brought back with them their two daughters (yes, biological, and no I'm not telling you how this happened :P), Sarah and Elina. Despite, or, more accurately, because of her traumatic background, Terra has taken to being a mother with a passion and is very protective of her wife and daughters. The "honeymoon" feel of the love between Terra and Lisa has never really faded, and the two seem as, if not more, committed to each other than the day they were married.
In the battle with Arijani, she managed to (temporarily at least) free herself from the bonds of the Draconic Prophecy. Her ten years outside the reach of the Prophecy have further sent her on a path that worries the Dragons of the Chamber to no end. What Terra is and what she may become are known only to herself, her wife, and Volrath to some extent. What action the Chamber will take is unknown, but there have been hints that they will target her children.
In her early days in the Underground, she had the unfortunate fate of meeting a rather Spoony Bard. The now Captain Rose was one of her early associates, whom she fired for stealing from her. A more recent development has brought to light that she is, in fact, Rose's half-sister, both sharing the same mother. How exactly this came about is still unknown, but it is certain that both of them are entirely creeped out by Rose's earlier leering/pickup attempts/etc. towards her.
Full Name: Terra Branford (yes, based on the main character of Final Fantasy VI)
Gender: Female
Race: Elf
Age: ~250 years
Current Class/Level: Druid 11/Sorceress 16/Psion 8/Soulknife 2
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Terra is leader of one of the major factions of Eberron's black market. Based in Sharn, she funds her operation through the trafficking of drugs (many of which she created herself) and the smuggling of rare items. She rules her organization with a combination of benevolence for those that abide by her orders and iron-fisted cruelty for those who do not. As a means of protection from assassins, she has had several grafts. These include Incendiary Skin and permenant Acid Resistance. In addition, she has added Regeneration and several vine tentacles that she can call upon when neccessary.
For a drug smuggler and crime lord, she is actually not that bad a person so long as you don't cross her. She has a strong sense of honor and will defend those she holds dear to the death if she must. Though the cost of failure during her mindgames with the Redshirts is often rather lethal, she does not revel in needless slaughter and hopes her 'lessons' help the survivors become stronger.
She knows Volrath and Muradin well, having traveled with them in the past. She is also seldom bothered by Volrath's antics, having seen most of them before. Their relationship is more brother and sister, with the potential for both friendly and antagonistic exchanges.
She initially came aboard for new ideas for her trade. She obtained permission of Captain Jarlot to use the crew as guinea pigs to test her creations in exchange for supplying the crew with said products at far below market price. She also works with the Cooky, Norbaz, in testing the effects of her creations in less subjective conditions (i.e. she spikes the food). There was a contract involved, but most of the crew didn't read it and signed it because they were told to.
As part of her Druidic heritage and chosen profession, she runs a rather complex network of animal spies running throughout Eberron and even into some of the Planes. Complimenting this is the intelligence gathered by her operatives in the field. It has also become clear that she hears the "voice" Material Plane itself and gathers much this way as well.
Terra is one of the few Ubers who rose to such status while on board. During a trip to Dal Quor, she fused with an imprisoned spirit from her companion aberration, "Not-Walter", gaining his powers, abilities, and memories. Her original personality remains dominant and little change is apparent. The two of them were so close that they had already taken on many of each other's personality traits.
Orphaned, stricken with amnesia at a young age, and raised by the Druidess who rescued her, Terra eventually discovered she originated from the Plane of Shadow. She learned that her father had sold his soul to a Demon Lord in return for the ability to control shadow. She had inherited that power, and was to be used as a vessel for the Demon Lord as part of a ritual intended to drain the sealed Daemon Lords and Rajahs of their power. With the help of the crew, she defeated the Demon Lord, gaining near free reign in the Plane of Shadow. However, she does not consider herself godlike in any respect, despite her power there. After discovering the details of the ritual she was intended for, she modified the basic concept and can now drain Outsiders of their power, if only temporarily.
A member of the Wardens of the Woods in the Eldeen Reaches, Terra is a bit of a black sheep among their ranks. Due to her semi-demonic nature (no true demonic blood, but has many of the effects of it), she is facinated by "unnatural" things. The twisted forms left over from the Daelkyr invasion thousands of years ago found in the deep woods intrigue her rather than repulse her. This goes toward explaining why, despite being a Druidess who reveres the natural world, she travels with Volrath and keeps an aberration as her animal companion.
During the battle against the Lords of Dust, it was revealed that they had been subtly manipulating Terra into furthering their plans. Their leader, Ariajni, was ultimately responsible for the whole mess involving her and her family with the Demon Lord. To add insult to injury, he was also directly responsible for her adoptive mother's death. In the course of the battle against him, she discovered she had access to angelic power as well, a gift from her adoptive mother (revealed to have been an Astral Deva).
One of the more interesting (and apparently more popular) facets of her personality is that she is unabashedly lesbian. Soon after coming aboard, she begain expressing an interest in Lisa Hopeforge, the ship's Paladin. Surprisingly enough, they actually entered into a rather intimate relationship (in every sense of the word). They married in a ceremony before The Face of Tira, and are currently Plane-hopping for their honeymoon.
Despite a rockey start, she is one of Satnak's best friends. Though Terra is still scared to death of her when she's mad, she and Lisa are two of the few people Satnak confides in.
- Currently works with Kithle towards the creation of the Illithid Empire as his spymaster.
- Contains elements of both Demonic and Angelic beings. The full effects are yet unknown.
- Is attempting to leave the black market.
- Created by Kaizer_Ryu
Original write up
Name: Terra
Race: Female Elf
Class: Druid, Level 14
Alignment: NE
Terra arrived onboard during a supply stop in Sharn. Though somewhat cold at first, she is more than willing to aid the crew in their pharmaceutical needs. It seems Terra is well versed in the breeding, growing, and preparing of the best hallucinogenic plant derivatives the pirates have ever had. As an added bonus, she has agreed to sell her products at vastly reduced prices in exchange for the Captain allowing her to test her newest creations on the crew. Considering the value of her products, Terra is understandably cautious. She is very protective of her personal space, and greatly dislikes being touched. She has also warned of “unpleasant things” happening to those who enter her room without permission. She claims to have joined the FF because of the variety of races onboard gives her a wider test sample, and the crew’s high drug tolerance level as well as experience with such allows for more precise reviews of her products. While true, several crew members believe she may be hiding out, but from what remains unclear.
Merged with Not-Walter
Name: Terra
Race: Elf/unknown fusion
Class/level: Druid 11/Sorcerer 15/Psion 7
Alignment: NE
The fused form of Terra and Not-Walter. While she is now both, she insists at just being called Terra, since hers is the dominant portion of the new personality due to being the original inhabitant of their shared body. The fusion was not without cost, with both of them having to sacrifice several levels in order to do so, but the combined result is far more powerful than either of them alone. Not-Walter's old body remains, only now it is really *just* a Half-Farspawn Broodling Kython. It still follows Terra, but the difference is obvious.
It seems that, about a thousand years ago, 'Not-Walter' used to be the best Quori Mindhunter of his day. Eventually the Quori managed to capture him and his companions. After stripping him of the Quori spirit he kept trapped, they sealed his spirit in the body of an aberration and murdered his friends before his eyes as punishment. The binding stripped him of all his Mindhunter abilities, and he was largely unable to access the rest. Because of these events, the most obvious difference in her new personality is a near-unbridled hatred of the Quori.
Some Random Facts[edit]
- Highly successful drugrunner (rumors indicate she is much more)
- Very secretive and dislikes being touched without consent
- Joined the crew for 'inspiration', now uses them as guinea pigs
- Has an aberration, 'Not-Walter', for a companion animal
- Got him during a trip through Xoriat about 30 years ago
- Apparently liked the place
- Current personality is a combination of her original and an imprisoned soul from Not-Walter
- Hates the Quori with a passion
- Enjoys screwing with people, but is quite sensible when danger arises
- Lesbian, has a thing for Lisa
- Hates Michael for the above reason
- Leader of a spy network made up of Eberron's non-sentient animal life
- Currently working with Kithle towards the Illithid Empire for unknown reasons
- Little is known about her past other than she has traveled with Volrath and Muradin for a good part of the last half-century
- Though evil and spiteful, does not usually hurt anyone without good reason
- Seems to be a treasure trove of rare items, claims she can get more - for a price
- Has the aggravating ability to tell the truth and tell you nothing at the same time
