I could have min-maxed my DEX, but it didn't fit my character concept even though it would have come in handy in terms of dice rolling. Oh well.
EDITED LAST: 7/21, 8:30pm EST
CACIA
Fighter (TWF archetype)
Alignment: Neutral Good
Gender: Female
STR 14 (+2)
DEX 17 (+3)
CON 13 (+1)
INT 14 (+2)
WIS 14 (+2)
CHA 10 (+0)
Cacia, like most fighter-types, is practical in behavior and direct in her communication. Her name means, "thorny tree," and if you "grab one of her branches" so to speak, you will feel the pain. While not one to needlessly instigate a conflict, she's also not one to flinch from a fight or play the diplomat in order to avoid one; if someone tries to push her around, she'll fearlessly push back in equal measure.
Cacia lives for a challenge, and she determines her value and identity by her ability to get the job done. She functions as a mercenary in that regard, and wants to get properly rewarded for her risk and efforts. However, she still has standards. She has no qualms about inflicting equal measure out on those she thinks deserve it (the brutish, the sadistic, the abusive, the exploitative -- one reaps what one sows, in her view), but she does not delight in inflicting pain on the helpless, abusing the weak, robbing from the needy, etc., and will even intervene to protect those being preyed upon. Accordingly, she will refuse paid assignments that would demand she exploit those beneath her level.
This could be viewed as being a “good” character, but it operates in a more practical than idealistic way. A warrior who haphazardly abuses and humiliates those with lesser skill is but a coward and a bully and never really knows what she is capable of; knowing oneself comes through undertaking tasks and responsibilities that provide appropriate levels of challenge.
The name “Cacia” also means "alert and watchful," another apt description of her nature. As opposed to fighters who rush into battle relying on brute strength and stamina to triumph, she is a wise and intelligent fighter – something that might catch the unwary off-guard. She will assess the battleground and the participants and locations and plan her strategy accordingly. People might mistake her as "just another fighter," while actually she's been sizing you up and figuring out how best to take you down if and when the need arises. Underestimate her at your peril.
Life philosophy:
- Difficulties strengthen the mind as labor does the body.
- Being challenged is inevitable; being defeated is optional.
- If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?
Appearance:
Not exactly this, especially in that Cacia isn't really "smiling" much -- she has a sharper, flatter, less readable look to her face, but the hair is pretty close.
[bimgx=300]http://hairstyles.thehairstyler.com/hairstyle_views/front_view_images/848/original/2472_Mandy-Moore-d-h_copy_2.jpg[/bimgx]
However, one of the things people notice when they meet her is that Cacia has a horrific scar on the left side of her face, starting in the hairline, leaving jagged/puckered and discolored skin around the outside end of her eye, running a broad furrow across her cheek, and curling under her jaw. It's bad enough that one might wonder how she survived such a wound, and at first meeting people find it disturbing and struggle with not staring at her. Interestingly, Cacia herself acts as if it isn't there -- she doesn't make any attempt to hide it, nor does she defiantly try to overexpose it for attention. She seems to view it as just, "It is what it is."