Meet Allisenna Novelli

So while looking for something to do today, I decided to mindlessly play with my customized Lego stuff as I watched The IT Crowd. I had told my friends that I have yet to finish the series (I had stopped after the second season) and much to my chagrin, I found them chastising me for my failure to complete such a short show. I mean, four seasons consisting of six twenty-plus minute episodes each - how the frak could I not complete that in a day? So after re-watching the first two seasons, I began watching the third season and had a few laughs.

I think I have to put Richard Ayoade on my "Famous People I Want to DM (or at least Narrate) for Me" list now.

Then I got to the first episode of season four: "Jen the Fredo." Part of the plotline involved a tabletop roleplaying game hosted by Moss (played by Richard Ayoade, pictured above). Most of the other guys were completely skeptical (and almost antagonistic) when the session started. By game's end, however, they were so invested in what was going on that they were moved to tears.

While it was completely hilarious (I'm pretty sure my side was splitting by the episode's conclusion), it got me thinking about some things involving my future roleplaying prospects. I had to wonder what it was I was doing and why I wanted to do it. I questioned what it was I was trying to accomplish and how my actions would benefit me.

Mind you, I'm not questioning me and my desire to role-play. I'm questioning why I haven't come up with a character backstory for Erfrischen Allisenna yet. So, since I have time to kill between now and some plans for tonight, I figured: "Why not work on some roleplaying?"





CURRENT MUSIC:
Zelda Reorchestrated - "Forest Temple"
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ~ The Complete Collection (ZREO Soundtrack)

Before I began typing this entry up, I told myself that I wanted to have something that did the following two things:

• calm me down, and
• get me in a sort-of working mood.

Ambient dungeon music usually gets both tasks down, and depending on the theme of the aforementioned dungeon, it can also associate itself with another relaxing form of ambiance. In the case of the Zelda Reorchestrated version of Ocarina of Time's Forest Temple theme, I can picture myself in a lush forest, standing in the middle of some decrepit ruins overrun by vegetation and mystery.

This temple's always been one of my favorites despite the subtly spooky atmosphere it gave off. When I first walked into it all those years ago on my Nintendo 64, I remember looking around in wonder. An ancient temple that hasn't been touched by sentient life in ages... and there I am pilfering the place for an awesome Fairy Bow.

As such, the same kind of emotion is hitting me now. Since it's been a long time since my last roleplaying session, I felt a bit of amazement and wonder take over me as I began to look into the logistics of what I wanted to do. The nostalgia reminded me of this piece, and here we are.





So, back to the story at hand: me coming back to World of Warcraft as a casual player-slash-roleplayer.

To some, roleplaying might look quite ridiculous. The rest of us will have to agree on that - it makes us ridiculously awesome.
(Image made by "Bludlemon.")

My personal style of roleplaying would probably best be described as "casual." When I played Chariselle, I was pretty loose and limber with my RP mannerisms. I knew when to stay in-character and when it was appropriate to break out of it. She had her serious moments - that is, when she wasn't drinking, watching a sports match in-universe (I made up my own football league and even got a few other players to go along with it), or spoiling her baby sister. Sometimes, I even went the extra-mile when out-of-character - I pretended that Chari was acting as if Azeroth was a modern-day Hollywood of sorts (complete with Chari pulling out her cell phone and questioning her agent's choice of film shoots).

Allisenna will probably be subject to the same overall style of RP. This means that while she'll have moments where she's immersed with the storyline that's being played out at that moment, there will be a few times where she and a friend (or "co-star") will question the script when someone says something stupid.

This would seem like a fun RP scenario to act out... until I realized that I probably wouldn't fit in those kiddy plane rides. =/
(Image made by "xerjester" and found on Battle.net.)

That's a good thing - there are occasions where the more serious roleplayers will outperform me with some things, and I'm okay with that. If I'm feeling up to the task 100%, then I'll definitely give a show-stopping performance. Of course, due to my rampant laziness and my tendency to be silly, I'll do enough role-play with the serious things and go all-out when the scenario turns more lighthearted.

But enough on that - I wanted to talk about something. I'm pretty sure that there's a few of you out there who are still (secretly) questioning the fact that I'm roleplaying as a woman.

I already said my piece on that, but to my surprise someone chimed in on this aspect as well. (I'd give my thanks, but they chose to keep themselves anonymous.) What they said supported my reasoning and even touched on what I was wanting to say. Since some of y'all are too lazy to check what they said (Author's Note: The comment has been corrected due to my jackassedness Grammar Nazism, but the message has been left intact.):

"I wanted to add my two cents about roleplaying a girl.

"I've roleplayed about 20 different characters - 10 of those in WoW, and 4 of them women. It's not strange at all, because when someone is writing a book or screenplay, do they leave out all the dialogue and thoughts of the opposite gender? No, because we're writing a story! Things start getting weird when you pretend to be the opposite gender out of character too."

Whoever you are: thanks. I'm a bit flattered that you actually took the time to comment on this.

Anyway, they have a point about that. With some of the stories I've written in the past, I've had to write in the mindset of a woman. With some of the ideas I've been concocting lately, there are women involved. Matter-of-fact, you've actually seen that I've written things with female lead characters before - there was that one short story I did a loooong while back. (Hey, doesn't that name look familiar? *winks*

With the simple stuff I have to write or act out, I usually call upon common knowledge and things I usually see in the movies or have experienced first-hand.

For instance, if the hot-headed, armor-clad female in question gets pissed off at some other guy and suddenly wants to start a bar brawl, then I'd just fuse my natural hot temper with the mannerisms of characters like Kara "Starbuck" Thrace... or any woman played by Michelle Rodriguez.

With the more complex things (I can think of a few, but I'll let your imagination wander), the mix is usually a pinch of what I know/have experienced and a whole lot of "asked actual women about this" - because who would know better than the original source?





Well, anyway, I figured I'd take this time to describe Allie on here. If anything, this'll inspire me to make that World of Warcraft RP page I wanted to make for my blog. Until then, you'll have to do with this.

I stylized the "profile page" in the same methodology that I did for Chari when I mapped out her details (read: I copy-and-pasted the form from a MS Word document I made for my Belfie), so I apologize if the formatting seems a tad... off.

Either way, I'm pretty sure this will be a learning experience for all of us. Enjoy!






Allie Novelli, Detective-Corporal
Stormwind Criminal Investigations Detachment
(Apologies for not having a picture for Allie.)

FULL NAME:
Allisenna Gloucester-Bellitz Novelli

ALIAS(ES)/NICKNAME(S):
Allie (shortened version of "Allisenna")

SPECIES:
Human

SEX:
Female

AGE:
23

HOME:
Stormwind City, Elwynn Forest, Eastern Kingdoms

RANK (if any):
Detective-Corporal

CURRENT ORGANIZATION:
Stormwind Criminal Investigations Detachment (Maritime Law)

PRIOR SERVICE HISTORY:
Stormwind Royal Army (basic training)

FAMILY, RELATIVES & FRIENDS:
Samuel Kurz Novelli, (Former) Lesser Viscount of East Elwynn
(Father, 47)
Former Stormwind Court Official
DECEASED [killed during Deathwing's siege of Stormwind]

Patricia Gloucester Novelli née Bellitz
(Mother, 48?)
Priestess, Stormwind Cathedral of Light
MISSING [missionary ship "Lost at Sea" near Kalimdor during Allie's childhood]





BIOGRAPHY:
((v1.0 - Please do not assume your character automatically knows any of this.))

Detective-Corporal Allisenna Novelli's records in Stormwind's Criminal Investigations Detachment doesn't state much, but what IS known of her is virtually public knowledge to anyone who knows a few city officials. The only child of a former bureaucrat (Samuel K. Novelli) and a mid-level Priestess of the Light (Tricia Novelli née Bellitz), Allie is a headstrong and dedicated detective who will do her best to solve any case that comes her way.

Allie's desire to solve mysteries and crimes began when she was young. When she was 13, her mother left on a missionary ship headed towards Kalimdor. Official reports stated that the ship last made contact with kal'dorei ports near Darkshore and was never seen again. Dissatisfied with the vague answers Stormwind officials kept giving her, Allie began to take matters into her own hands and began to investigate the case of the missing ship.

She started by using her father's status as a Lesser Viscount to research ship routes and the official reports at Stormwind's Royal Library, and when that didn't help, she began to conduct her own "investigation" at the harbor. Nobody seemed to mind a young teenager constantly wandering in and out of military and royal locations - not only was she a viscount's daughter, but she was also able to help a good amount of the sailors with some of their legal problems with the knowledge she attained.

This all changed a few years later when her father was exposed as being in numerous sex scandals in the Royal Court. The sheer amount of cases presented all at once threatened to embarrass the Courts, so they swept the problem under the rug by revoking her father's viscountship. Not only did this make Allie lose faith and trust with her father, but with it she lost all the perks and access rights that she once had. Despite this, she continued her investigation anyway by sneaking into now-restricted areas and enlisting the help of a few sailors and dock workers she had befriended throughout the years.

At the suggestion of a ship captain who Allie helped with some "missing cargo," she decided to pursue a career in maritime law. She enlisted herself in Stormwind's Royal Guard. Despite much ridicule from her peers (she was the daughter of "Baron von Man-Slut" according to her drill sergeant), she sought to prove herself as someone better than her father. With this determination she completed her basic training as a Private in Stormwind's Army reserve.

She found herself transferred to Stormwind's Criminal Investigations Detachment and was on the docks when Deathwing attacked. While she was fortunate to survive the assault, her father was (sadly) among the casualties (she discovered his body while on a search-and-rescue mission at what was left of The Park).

Now officially parentless, this ramped up Allie's drive to solve the mystery of her missing mother. After the Shattering she found herself diving head-first into her work and investigations. It paid off - she received a promotion to Corporal and earned the freedom to begin solo investigations at her discretion.

Her first assignment as a solo detective: investigate the (recent) disappearance of a merchant convoy of ships near waters well-known to be inhabited by pirates. Allie's investigation has begun...





And it's not just her investigation that begins now... it's also the adventure I'll be getting to live out when I play as her. So, until the 'morrow, everypony!