Svala appears to be a perky teenager at the start of her adventuring career. She stands well over a foot taller than her old form, but she remains below average in height. The girl is slender with a natural hourglass body shape despite her still developing small chest, as she seems to be slightly malnourished. She has slender fingers with long nails that seem to naturally shape into sharp points which could easily scratch your eyes out. The subtle outlines of muscles in her arms though result entirely from a lack of fat tissue rather than physical capability or brawn, and while she may still be owed a final growth spurt to put her more on par with her peers, the odds of that happening seem to be dwindling every day.

The girl has soft, smooth and pale skin that lacks any freckles or marks, and when she smiles, a set of pearly white teeth can be seen under her small nose which is seemingly adjusted for colder, dryer conditions. She has slightly extended canine teeth a little over half a centimeter longer than her incisors, and though notable, they stay well with the Aran norms, and aren’t particularly sharp.

She looks at you with huge, emerald green doe eyes that seem to take in the world as if every single detail is new and singularly important. When studied closely, the iris has a slightly darker corneal limbus ring around it, and the green has detailed swirls radiating outwards with hints towards red and indigo when studied up close, though well within both Aran and Elven norms. Her pupils though seem to exhibit some unusual properties, as they become larger than normal in the dark, taking up almost the entire iris, and they can close both into smaller circles as well as vertical slits like a cat’s. Despite the extended range of motion, this doesn’t actually provide her with better vision than normal and in fact she takes slightly longer to adjust to bright light.

Her hair goes down to her bottom, and is a deep matte black, though when the light reflects upon it, hints of the former bright orange that it used to be can be spotted, almost causing one to wonder if it is actually black or whether it was painted that colour in a recalcitrant effort to appear gothic. It is kept in a warrior-like hairstyle with a main thick Dutch braid running from the middle above her forehead to the crown of her head, where it is propped up before dangling down all the way to her tail bone. Along the sides of her head, two narrow feed-in cornrow braids on each flank run above the ears and join in the center where they lift up the main braid and wrap around it, creating some distance between the head and the dangling point of the main braid. The rest of her hair falls down straight from the back of her head with just a slight wave and a dozen or so thin braids mixed into it, forming the base upon which the main braid is rested.

In between the cornrow braids, two large cat ears peek out, too big to hide easily under a hat or scarf. Each has short, mostly black fur on the outside matching her regular hair and a softer dark pink on the inside. The ears are significantly large and move around seemingly of their own accord, perking up whenever she sees something interesting or unexpected and drooping down to the sides when relaxing, wiggling when happy and turning towards sounds seemingly as a reflex even if she seems to be ignoring it otherwise. Besides her cat ears, she also spots a second, more regular pair of ears on the side of her head, running into a light point. It isn’t quite clear which set of ears she uses to hear, or if perhaps both are functional, though at the very least, her regular Elven ears do not move around anywhere near as much.

Overall, Svala gives off the appearance of a girl who has left her home to adventure, against the advise of her parents, perhaps not quite strong enough yet to take on the world entirely on her own, but making a major effort to appear as if she could handle it, and determined to prove that its not just a phase, she really is all she claims to be. Her feline features add the message that though she may be small, she will scratch and bite so even if she may seem weak, those who take advantage may find themselves dealing with a feral animal rather than a helpless maiden.

Outfits & Equipment

Dormedonian Baseline Outfit

Svala's Dormedonian Baseline Outfit is her first adventuring outfit and consists of a dress, jacket with sleeves, pants and boots. She additionally wears a belt and sometimes backpack to go with it.

The pants, jacket and sleeves form a matching set and are made of the light brown tanned hide of a local creature, smooth and leathery on the outside with warm but somewhat uncomfortably itchy fur on the inside.

The jacket consists of a simple five panel bodice and high collar, lacing up in the back to keep it snug around the body. It has short double sleeves, a tighter inner sleeve ending barely over the shoulder at the armpits, while longer, wider sleeves without fur lining go up to about mid arm. The sleeves feature lacing holes to attach arm-wear, and a pair of lined long sleeves are included with the jacket made from the same material, though these can be taken off or swapped out as desired.

The pants are high waisted so the jacket extends over them to the hips and fit closely along Svala's skinny legs, giving a bit of volume to them though taking some effort to squeeze into and out of. The pants are secured around the waist by means of two leather straps running through the waistband, though due to the close fit they stay up mostly on their own. Additionally, belt loops are present to help secure a belt if the wearer so desires.

Over top, a heavy outer dress is worn, made of heavier tanned hide with significantly thicker fur, though matching closely in colour to the jacket and pants. The dress has no closing and is pulled over the head like an overly long sweater. The dress features a hood which can be worn up or down, though it does not take account of Svala's ears, making it quite uncomfortable for her to wear up.

The skirt of the dress is wide enough to allow easy walking and even climbing. It is several inches longer than the wearer, but is designed to be folded inwards and secured, thus allowing the length to be adjusted from floor length to just below mid calf. Svala usually wears it to about an inch above the ground. However it is worn, the inward folding of the excess material helps to protect the hemline, as it protects the fur that is harder to clean of mud and dirt.

On top of the dress, a wide darker brown leather belt hangs around the waist, knotted through a sturdy pair of rings carved out of hard wood to allow it to be adjusted. While originally designed to be worn under the dress, Svala's waist is small enough to allow it to be strapped over, gathering it a bit more around the waist, though the volume of the heavy dress does not allow for much adjustment regardless, so the effect is minor.

To limit the itchy effect of the outfit, a pair of black leather-like stretchy panties is worn, together with a long sleeved top and knee high socks of the same material.

Finally, Svala's boots are made of stiff and brown sturdy leather, slightly darker than the dress, shaped around the foot going up to about mid calf. They are lined with fur and lace up on the outside, with a flap secured on the front and bottom and tied down in the back to cover the laces.

The soles the boots are mounted on are made of a new material that is being tested. It is made of the hooves of one of the beasts that roam the forests around Choewood, and is a darker brown colour than the boots. Unlike regular boots, the bottom of the sole has a pattern carved into the material to provide additional traction, inspired by the hooves of the original beast - albeit much smaller, with two wedge shaped sections at the ball of the foot and toes, and several smaller sections at the heel sticking out. Even so, it is plain from the generic shape that the boot prints are Aran footsteps.

While worn, the wearer has a slightly easier time moving through forest terrain. When moving through Arboreal terrain, any penalties to overland movement are reduced by 10%. This does not affect movement in combat.

Simple Backpack

Svala has a heavy backpack made of smooth brown leather, which due to being a standard model is slightly on the large size for her body. Even so, the two shoulder straps are adjusted to fit her comfortably. Each strap has a pair of hard wooden rings to allow them to be adjusted, depending on what is worn underneath, and the straps also have an extra string attached at hip height, allowing the backpack to be tied around the waist, though this is mostly to secure the load or to keep it from bouncing, as it does not transfer weight to the hips.

The pack has a large main compartment which can be closed with a leather drawstring to pull excess leather sewn into the top together to keep weather out of the softer inside of the leather, while a large flap covers the opening and is tied down separately on the outside using a loop in the center of the pack. The main compartment can contain approximately 25 liters of volume.

Besides the main compartment, three side components are available which can be accessed more easily. On either side is a pocket, covered by a flap that can be tied down. Unlike the main pack, no inner closure is added, allowing the content to be accessed more easily but offering slightly less protection against the weather. The side pockets extend from the bottom to about half the height of the backpack, but longer items such as arrows, cases for maps and so on can be put inside and secured at the top with an extra strap there.

The last pocket is present on the back portion of the pack and, like the side pockets, extends about halfway up the pack, where it is covered by a flap that can be tied down there. It is designed to contain rations and the smooth side of the leather is extended along the inside of the pack, allowing it to be more easily cleaned of crumbs, food residue and so on.

Besides the pockets, several extra straps at the top and bottom allow items to be strapped on tightly on top of or underneath the backpack, in particular taking account of things such as bedrolls or tent components, though given Svala's size, if anything is strapped underneath, she's no longer able to sit down unless there is room for the back to extend below her hips on the other side.

Personal Hygiene Items

Svala was given a simple hairbrush, some hair oil and cleaning powders, designed to be used in lue of the more expensive soap.