Bio
[series]: Abhorson Trilogy
[character]: The Disreputable Dog (Kibeth)
[character history / background]: In the beginning of the world that would become the Old Kingdom, there was only Free Magic. Then, came the Seven Bright Shiners who together wrote the Charter, which defined the world, and created a form of magic that humans could use to beat back the dead and other horrid creatures that preyed on them. The Charter was a series of marks that defined everything in existence, and went on forever. The creation of the Charter took the lives of five of the Bright Shiners, leaving two to watch over their creation. Kibeth was one of the two left. However, she too had been left very drained by the act of creation and retreated from the world, while still keeping half an eye on it, to prevent problems. Most of the time she slept. Then many, many centuries later she was awoken when she felt a lonely girl calling on the Charter to create a sending of a dog. Kibeth couldn’t remember anyone having tried that before and curious she decided to grab the magic for herself and use it to manifest in the world, as the dog the girl had been trying to create.
The girl was Lirael and she and Kibeth became fast friends. Granted, Kibeth didn’t use her real name, choosing instead to introduce herself just as the Disreputable Dog. Nor did she feel the need to enlighten Lirael as to her true identity. Instead, she just played up that she was a strange talking dog. She served as Lirael’s confidant and friend for several years, slowly encouraging via teasing and browbeating the shy girl to embrace her own special skills and destiny.
On Lirael’s eighteenth birthday, Kibeth convinced her friend to go exploring in the deepest reaches of the Clayr’s library. Though she feigned ignorance, Kibeth was pretty sure what they would find, and was determined to get Lirael there so the girl could realize her destiny as a Remembrancer. Still, even after Lirael found the door, the room, and the items within, Kibeth merely said they should get back, trusting events to propel Lirael in the correct direction.
And they did. The Clayr saw Lirael in a vision, and found the girl rather unexpectedly. To avoid detection, Kibeth was forced to disapeare for a bit, which she knew worried Lirael, but the Clayr might have been able to figure out who she truly was, and Kibeth didn’t want that. She intended to return as soon as Lirael was safely on the boat on its way out of the glacier. Instead, she’s found herself in the City.
[character abilities]: Normal dog abilities - though she does see in color.
Can, by barking in a particular rhythm, force someone to walk where she wants them to.
Can make limited alterations to her physical form - she always looks like a dog, but can change the size and shape of parts to accomplish different tasks (suction pads on her feet, smaller and longer to fit through holes, etc)
[character personality]: Kibeth is a person (entity?) who takes far too much delight in being mysterious. She’ll never give a straight answer when a roundabout one will do. She is, however, a very friendly person and likes getting to know all sorts of different people. It helps that she is a great listener, and always willing to be the shoulder for someone to cry on. Just don’t try to ask her too many questions about herself. She’s not the type to go spilling her life story to all and sundry. In fact, the quickest way to get her to clam up is to ask her about her past.
Kibeth quite honestly fascinated with every new thing she finds. All of the City is new to her, and she’d likely to be giddy with excitement for several days. For all that she’s incredibly old, she quite often reacts with a child-like enthusiasm to new things. She’s also quite a bit of a daredevil and has little sense of self-preservation. She tries to encourage a little recklessness in her friends, seeing most people as rather boring.
[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: Right after Lirael is discovered in the bowels of the Library by the senior Clayr
[journal post]: It’s so very tiresome knowing so much. Lirael’s a sweet girl but she’s still obsessing over gaining the Sight. She’s meant for so much more, and is too blind to see it right now. She can make the Charter sit up and do tricks even I didn’t think were possible. And when she finds… No, even here I can’t say such things. She might find this crude record and that would spoil everything. I’ll seal this bit with my office and turn to less… sensitive subjects.
Lirael’s birthday is tomorrow. She’s busy making a new Charter skin right now, which is how I can work on this. We’re going exploring again, this time down into some of the oldest parts of the glacier. It promises to be an interesting adventure for both of us. I just hope I can get her to keep going. There are might be some treacherous parts, and Lirael gets so tetchy about such things. Never mind that there are far more dangerous things in this world than some minor architectural features.
And besides, this kind of danger usually means things are getting fun!
[Third person / log sample]: The tunnel was cold, as could be expected. They were worming their way through a glacier after all. It was also longer than she remembered. She’d been through it once before of course, but that time she’d not had to keep waiting for her Charter-skinned friend.
“Come on!” she barked, when the tunnel widened enough to turn her head back a bit. She didn’t wait for a reply from Lirael before wiggling further down the tunnel. Ahead, she could smell the river, and under that scent the various smells of the entombed Clayr. They were getting close. She couldn’t hold back a grin as the tunnel started to widen. Almost there!
Oh sure, there were still bridges to cross (which Lirael would probably complain about), and doors to open, but soon, soon this adventure would truly begin. The trick of course was to avoid the rest of the Clayr. She didn’t hold with Lirael’s near-obsession with the Clayr’s Sight, but it was not an insignificant ability, and she had her doubts that she’d be able to conceal her true nature from the elders of the Watch.
But she wasn’t one to worry overly about problems that hadn’t happened yet. This was the most fun they’d had in months!