Kamlai Pusparna
Profile
Basic Information
Name:
Kamlai Pusparna
Nickname(s):
Kamkam
Age:
34
Birth Date:
2nd Arrival, Year of Souls 8260 (Cervos the Stag)
Height:
152cm/5’
Gender:
Female
Race:
Wood Elf
Class:
Summoner
Occupation:
Student, tattoo colourist
Guild(s):
Enhancement(s):
Wood Blossoming
Likes
Shaved ice, spicy foods, floral jewellery, woody smells
Dislikes
Getting tattooed, her height, large family gatherings, invasion of personal space, cleaning up (after herself), being the weakest link
Personality
Confident // Passionate // Crass // Procrastinator // Unadventurous // Quick-tempered
Kamlai has a bold air about her and won’t shy away from a challenge she sets for herself. She can be quite the go getter in a bum situation but sometimes overestimates her own capabilities. Her strong headed attitude towards achieving her own goals means she is willing to try again and again against any manner of obstacles.
The same cannot be said for things that don’t need immediate attention, or don’t catch her interest. She has a tendency to stick to her comfort zones and is unadventurous in different facets ranging from relationships (being mostly family friends) to education (self-directed learning… or lack thereof). Often she’s ready to talk her way out of doing something that requires more effort from her, and needs convincing or a fire under her ass to kick her into gear. This is partly due to her self-awareness of her longevity as an elf, but more and more she is learning that she may not have that luxury to fall back on.
She can be warm to the people she knows, but possesses a sharp tongue and the ignorance to say what she wants. To hell with formalities, she just needs to speak her mind right now. Kamlai doesn’t seem to care if she leaves a bitter taste in someone else’s mouth, but the same can’t be said if she is on the receiving end. She gets upset about small inconveniences and pet peeves in the moment and then lets them pass, but she has hangups that bother her for longer than she’ll admit. It’s a cycle of getting annoyed, handwaving it, and then getting mad about it when it happens again.
History
Her father, the tattoo artist, her mother, the sage script writer. Both big name designers specialising in creating decorative magical writings for all kinds of things. And they were having yet another child. All the relatives could not wait for what kind of creative genius this one would turn out to be…
But unfortunately Kamlai failed to inherit her parents’ creative streak. When magic and art were so closely tied to the family name, it became hard to just have half the package. She showed equally strong magical potential like her siblings, but failed miserably on the creative side of things. Her parents minded little in the end since they could support her for now. She had all the time in the world to get better, right? Without the need or drive to improve, she let her skills dwindle and eventually slacked off her careers in magic and art altogether. She could still colour between the lines at least, and so spent her days mooching off mum and dad while doing colour work at the family tattoo parlour.
However when the war began in 8291, her parents pushed her to get better in case the battles came onto Estran shores. She was kicked out of home with the intent that she would travel Alva to improve her art skills and summoning abilities. Kamlai spent some months in Cantor and Nisalvini studying the unique brands of magic there, before prematurely deciding she had done enough. Taking minimal books for study with her, she set off north to see the sights. During the following months, her drive to draw and study was spotty at best, and eventually she became more of a tourist instead of a student. She relied on her family's wealth to get around comfortably - for firstly, she was lazy and secondly, no one had any need for a half-rate artist. Her funds dwindled every now and again, but there was nothing a quick flight home could not solve.
Suddenly, allegiance talks were upon Estraude. She came home to visit her parents during the Emerald Masquerade, boasting to her relatives about how good she was now. With the law changes, unfortunately her months in conscription would go to show how little she actually had learned during her year away. Thoroughly unimpressed, her parents pushed her to travel the Empire to learn, but with the growing unrest she managed to weed her way back and worked at the family tattoo parlour for a bit in hopes things would calm down.
Current Story
Talk of the war came even closer to home when her oldest brother Arun was sent to Whelcliffe to aid the population there, sparking Kamlai to start caring about it. For a while after, things were quiet, the upheaval of Alva was far away once more.
In an effort to justify her lazing at home, she landed a part scholarship to study at the local Church College, slowly pursuing summoning with some tutelage from Consul Aalok. Learning whilst being accountable to someone else did wonders for her motivation and interest to improve.
Then, she saved a man and his research, speaking of recent world disasters and possibly of ones to come, and she started to realise maybe she might not have all the time in the world. Later, the citizens are called to search for a missing fire god, and to sate this nagging memory, she answered.
She woke to find herself in another world, only to be thrown back to Alva with even more questions and uncertainties. Her newfound compatriots work together to find answers and she felt a responsibility to take part as a student in the field of summoning.
Unknown power bursts forth from beyond, and she must steel herself for whatever comes next.
Additional Info
Blossoming: mossy coloured patches below her eyes and ear tips
Having grown up in Estraude, she tends to bundle up a lot more than others when in a cold climate.
Fluent in Common and Estran. She can understand more Altan than she can speak.
Also attempted to learn Xechasei but never had much need for it, all she remembers now are names of dishes and touristy phrases.
She has a mole on the left side of the bridge of her nose, and one on her right shoulder covered by her tattoo.
In her pursuit to chase her siblings’ varying coattails of success, she’s dabbled here and there with different facets of the creative arts, but never really clicked with any of the attempts. With all her academic studies however she’s felt less self conscious about it and has come to accept that her ‘thing’ is summoning. However what she’s probably best at, had she found it, is (spell) calligraphy.
Summoner info:
Plane: Sala-sattva (full compendium)
The gateway to this plane was first opened by Kamlai’s grandfather. It is a lush land filled with creatures both as ferocious as they are playful. One can never be too careful travelling there, as almost everything in this plane is alive and sentient. It is said that even the land of the plane itself is a titanic familiar that would be impossible to transport into Alva.
Pusparna Tattoo Parlour
Most of the ground floor of the Pusparna family home is dedicated to the parlour, (multistorey peranakan style home with a courtyard and lots of rooms) with the family living upstairs. Employees come in and out every day, tattooists hand picked and mentored by Damar and Lavanya. Since they work so close in proximity with the family home and its residents, the parlour has an overall cosy ‘local family business’ atmosphere. Refreshments and hospitality for clients are generally provided by the Pusparna’s own hired help and the odd relative on occasion.
In addition to regular tattoos, the parlour is also relatively well known for offering specialist magic tattoo services, ranging from arcane aids to seals. They also offer henna tattooing from time to time, usually on days when a client requires a magic design to be tested and tweaked before committing to ink.
With the current invasion from the otherworlds, the family home has been fortified into a safe haven with the magic talents of their employees and well wielded iron skillets.
Relations
Ailbhennis Malaiynur
Shy artist family friend. Kamlai finds them a little too skittish for their own good but would not hesitate to step up and in where her caring friend is lacking, socially and beyond. They both have a passion for art and tea and often get together for art sessions (filled with procrastinating and snacking).
Aalok Dalal
Her mentor for summoning. In contrast to her family, she really appreciates how down to earth Aalok has been about the whole arrangement. She has learned a lot from him about magic and general life advice, and respects him a lot. He has been a little careless on certain recent matters, but he’s wise and probably knows what he’s doing (right?).
