Alone in a familiar and warm room, Eodette Thistling enjoys the company of a stranger with an inquisitive mind on a day she felt particularly revealing.
As a note, this is a sort of indulgence in character development that lets your character answer questions they might not have ever been asked, or simply weren't in a position to answer truthfully. While Eodette is, by and large, a reclusive personality, the spirit of this is to briefly suspend disbelief and give them an inexplicable reason to open up a little.
This is a multi-part excersise, totalling a hundred questions, but I thought I'd cut it down into manageable pieces. Feel free to use these questions for your own character and if you'd like a template of them, send me a message.
Part 1: The Basics
1. What is your full name? Eodette Thistling. I've had others, but this was my given name and the one I prefer if I've a choice.
2. Where and when were you born? Somewhere in the Bree-lands, a little under thirty years ago on an unusually cold summer morning.
3. Who are/were your parents? My mother was an herbalist who lived off the land. Her people had been farmers though I never knew them. My father was a wanderer who came through but didn't stay. At least, that's what I was told.
4. Do you have any siblings? None that I know of, no.
5. Where do you live now, and with whom? For about, oh I don't know, two years or so, I lived largely on my own aside from a troublesome little devil with whiskers and a fur coat. That was during my time in Bree proper, but now I'm quite far away from that quaint little town. I've made my journey to Minas Tirith, and survived it, so here I remain. For now. I share a roof with about sixteen others, give or take.
6. What is your occupation? I couldn't say what it is I do anymore. I used to be a purveyor of oddities, secrets, just about anything that could be bought or sold I'd have an interest in. Today? I've made an investment in a derelict tavern that I plan to renovate. Eventually. As of right now it's serving as a house of recovery, after I offered a bite to eat and a bed to a few hungry mouths and tired eyes. I realized then that there were more hidden and forgotten faces amidst the stonework of the city in the wake of the war. What was I to do? Turn them away?
7. Write a full physical description of yourself. Mmm. Black straw for hair, eyes as dreary as rain clouds. Pale and gauntly. I suppose I've always liked my hands, long and thin fingers.
8. To which social class do you belong? I'm certainly no beggar, if that's what you're insinuating. I've no blueblood heritage either, so make of that what you will.
9. Do you have any allergies, diseases, or other physical weaknesses? None so noteworthy.
10. Are you right- or left-handed? Right.
11. What does your voice sound like? I suppose a woman's? I've been told my accent is difficult to place, too articulate and sharp for Bree-land yet, softer than what one would expect from Gondorian women. I attribute it to my eclectic company in my younger years.
12. What words and/or phrases do you use very frequently? Eodette smiles, languidly perching her chin atop the heel of her palm. "I suppose..." she drawls.
13. What do you have in your pockets? A key to my room upstairs. I never lock it, but I keep it on my person anyway. Oh and a length of blue ribbon, apparently.
14. Do you have any quirks, strange mannerisms, annoying habits, or other defining characteristics? Plenty. I've been told my occasional bouts of terseness are frustrating.
Part 2: Growing Up
15. How would you describe your childhood in general? My early childhood was, in a word, unremarkable. I turned out nothing like my mother, and I've never lived the sort of life she enjoyed; a calm, quiet existence on the edge of a forest.
16. What is your earliest memory? Apples, I think. Big, woven baskets of them that my mother would carry on her arm. Well, they were big to me but now that I think on it, they were probably small handbaskets. I don't know what we did with them, likely made pies or just ate them as they were, but I remember how they shined like giant rubies in my hands.
17. How much schooling have you had? Quite a bit.
18. Did you enjoy school? I did.
19. Where did you learn most of your skills and other abilities? A woman named Ha'katk.
20. While growing up, did you have any role models? If so, describe them. I don't think I did. I remember having a grand idea of Elves and wishing that perhaps one day, I'd wake up and realize I'd become one. Most of my ideas of them were far too fantastical, as it turns out.
21. While growing up, how did you get along with the other members of your family? My mother and I got along well enough. There wasn't much for us to disagree on, frankly.
22. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? Well, aside from an Elf, I don't know. I supposed I'd do what my mother did, and I think she did too.
23. As a child, what were your favorite activities? I remember being chided for straying too close to the roads. I liked to watch travelers and if they had a wagon I'd guess what was in it.
24. As a child, what kinds of personality traits did you display?Independence, stubbornness.
25. As a child, were you popular? Who were your friends, and what were they like? Popularity wasn't much a thing where I grew up. When I got older and ventured from my mother's home, I was still fairly young. I had a certain sense of popularity, I suppose. I learned that being mindful of your appearance, your mannerisms, made you a more trustworthy vision.
26. When and with whom was your first kiss? At the dusking hour of my childhood, I knew a boy whose name doesn't matter anymore. He was... my first idea of what a man looked like to me, as a woman.
27. Are you a virgin? Brazen questions, these. But no.
28. If you are a supernatural being (i.e. mage, werewolf, vampire), tell the story of how you became what you are or first learned of your own abilities. Pardon?
Part 3: Past Influences
29. What do you consider the most important event of your life so far? The journey I've taken into Gondor. I've found that the world is much larger than I'd imagined, and I had imagined it was quite large.
30. Who has had the most influence on you? Ha'katk. She was an older woman, her death came a few years ago. If you saw her, you'd probably not guess that we knew one another, much less that I was her student, but there's more of her in me than I'd like to admit.
31. What do you consider your greatest achievement? Again, that damned excursion.
32. What is your greatest regret? I've many of those, and no heart to place one above the others.
33. What is the most evil thing you have ever done? Evil? I'd like to think I've never commited such a heinous act as to condemn me to that. I've done things I'm not proud of, but it was never like that.
34. Do you have a criminal record of any kind? Yes.
35. When was the time you were the most frightened? Seeing the red skies cast over the fields of Pelennor, the remnants of the war and the impossible ruin brought by hatred and evil.
36. What is the most embarrassing thing ever to happen to you?Oh I am not reciting this, not for every gold coin in this city.
37. If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be, and why? I've dreamed of this for a long time, and I have a hundred points that I told myself I'd see undone if I had the chance...but the more I think on it, the more vivid the fantasy becomes, I begin to count my blessings between the mistakes and I wonder if I ever could change anything at all.
38. What is your best memory? Eodette smiles faintly, her gaze drifting aimlessly to stare into the flickering hearth. The evening before a celebration we had here, not so long ago.
39. What is your worst memory? She goes quiet, solemnity darkening her eyes. I'd done something heartless and found myself face to face with the consequences of my actions.
