Character Building: Pania Alow

Yesterday, I introduced two of the secondary characters to the rewrite for Black Mask & Pale Rider as well as Shani’s companion, Scales. Today, I detail one of the main characters of the story. Pania Alow, a.k.a. Pale Rider.

Pania Alow is, at the time of the story, a young elf (young being relative to elves, as she is 325 years old) with an adventuresome spirit, an opportunistic outlook and a warm heart. She comes from a family of artists, bards, story tellers and singers. She stands about 4 feet 10 inches tall, about average height for an elf, long, blond hair tucked into curls that seem to frame her sharp tipped ears. She always seems to have a smile on her face like she has some secret. Her green eyes help to draw anyone directly to them as she would converse with any other individual. Her frame is quite curvy, though athletic.

Pania has a style for fashion, choosing to wear whatever might be trendy at the time. She does have her favourites, though, such as her attire when she knows that she must face some sort of danger. She will often wear a silken poet’s shirt with a tunic made of elven chain underneath. Soft leather bracers with gold inlay marking her house and her faith. A leather corset around her midsection, with a belt that holds a finely crafted rapier. Later, a pair of leather holsters would be added, holding a well cared for pair of Smith and Wesson Army .32s. Her slacks are made of comfortable cotton, fitting to her form as though hugging her hips. She wears a pair of leather thigh high boots, with side buckles and spurs at each heel. This is topped off with a finely crafted cloak that rests around her shoulders, brown with gold embroidery at the edges.

Pania is very much a swashbuckler. An expert with her rapier, one might say that her form and fighting stance may have been studied later in life by the likes of Errol Flynn. While better with a blade, she knows how to use her pistols, able to combine the practice of sword and pistol in her ability to fight. But that is not all in her arsenal, for she is a sorceress. At first, when she arrives on Earth, she believes the planet to be dead of magic and worries for her companion, Verit. But eventually, she realizes the magic isn’t dead, just laying dormant. Pania is able to draw upon the arcane to heal and harm, to free and confine. Often she uses these abilities to tell a good tale or sing a song, adding an entertainment value to a possible historic tale of adventure.

When she arrives on Earth, one of her first goals is to find the Underground Railroad. She does not understand how humans could own other humans, and she sympathizes with those who would abolish slavery. Unknown to her, these steps she takes put her on a road she never believed she would see.