1.1  Summary

Airy, private, mysterious, friendly. A smooth-talker and quick-thinker. Highly observant and analytical. A social chameleon who is well-spoken and intelligent. Generally friendly and helpful unless her safety is put into question. Not emotive except in comfortable company. Unlikely to divulge personal information. Peaceful, clean, and well-kept. Keeping secrets, leading to a lot of pent-up anxieties beneath the surface. Painfully pragmatic and often the straight man amongst a pile of goons. Saves face well and keeps a clear head in public, but less so in private. Not as well-put-together as she comes off. Intense when divining or analyzing. Doesn't particularly like to be touched or cornered and will retaliate accordingly. Intentionally manipulative when necessary to ensure her own safety. Full of regrets.

• Tropes: Phony Psychic, Cold Reading, Starting a New Life, Mysterious Waif, Cool Big Sis

1.2  Traits

• Demeanor: private, pragmatic, even-tempered, "looking through you"
• Speech: medium-deep feminine; soft-spoken, easy on the ears
  • Languages: English, Turkish
• Scent: incense, ash, lavender
• Sexuality: bisexual
• Alignment: True Neutral

Likes

Sexuality

Biases

socializing, meditation, dusk and dawn, self-preservation, prosperous living, quiet activities, dye-making, crafting by hand, music, water, wine, children

Dislikes

hostility and combat, raised voices, heavy labor, disrespect, high energy, fast-talkers, gloryhounds

Fears

loss of personal safety, her fake identity being found out, loss of her real identity (as it is always stifled and hidden), most combat situations, wildfires, religious zealots and extremists

Bisexual and appreciates everything and everyone. She likes all the good-lookin' folk mmMMMM. That said, Salem is extremely unlikely to have flings or quick romantic encounters; not only is she rather emotionally closed-off, her need to keep herself physically safe means avoiding vulnerable positions, such as any sexual opportunities. Deeply anxious and well aware of it, she wishes it didn't have to be this way—so who knows what could happen? :^)

Spirituality

All things exist to serve a purpose. Believes in the rare possibility of spirits and ghosts, but is generally a skeptic of anything and everything intangible, including magic and witchcraft. Painfully critical of "fellow" diviners, thinking them all fakes like herself. Does not adhere to a theism.

A sweet-talker and manipulator herself by trade, Salem has a killer radar for manipulation directed at her. Given that this is another way she protects herself, she prides herself on it. As such, and somewhat ironically, Salem tends to drift towards sincere and sensitive folks whom she knows she is safe around (with no intention of harming them). Should she be swayed maliciously and expose herself as not as safe as she thought she was, she would most certainly not respond well to it.

Similarly, Salem tends not to trust witches or other diviners, and automatically assumes they are all fakes like she is with generally the same intentions, good or bad. She outright doubts and scoffs at fortunes relayed to her from other diviners, though she is well-aware her own divination is not any more legitimate.

Overview

Feminine and somewhat waifish. Face is always heavily painted to shroud out all features, and hair is hidden entirely in a turban. Physically neither threatening nor homely. Friendly enough in carriage and dialogue, but cannot be physically described as especially warm or inviting. Maintains some level of visible stiffness and tension around strangers. Generally remains two-legged and dressed in light, loose, and feminine clothing. Highly decorates in gold jewelry and bangles.

Essentials

• Species: 50% Golden Jackal, 50% Coyote
• Fur: Tawny, wiry, short
  • Optime Hair: Completely covered by headscarf at all times. On the off-chance her hair is visible, it is of her lighter pelt colors and made of tight, voluminous, and barely shoulder-length curls.
• Facial Features: Pointed and jackal-like. Heavily painted mask over eyes.
• Build and Size: Waifish and thin, short- to medium-height. Big ears.
• Humanization: Heavy. Gold jewelry and bangles, peacock earring. Does not shift from Optime.
  • Optime: 134lbs (61kg) ↔ 5'9" (175.25cm)

Picture

Painted Mask Reference

Coloration and Palette

2.2  Gallery

Hover over images for artist credit or see Imgur Gallery!

• Mother: Ayşe
• Father: an unknown ex-Infernian, likely a Lykoi or de le Poer
• Littermates: —
• Extended: Knows she had family in the now-defunct Inferni, but doesn't have any details. Her maternal family is still in Turkey. Not interested in finding or developing relationships with any family members.

• Ayşe: Salem's relationship with her mother is based more around respect than love; their relationship was well but not tightly-knit. Her mother worked often and lived something of a loose lifestyle, during which the well-behaved Salem entertained herself. When her mother became involved with a bad crowd in late 2019, Salem took matters into her own hands at the cost of their relationship among other things, and further severed communication by fleeing north and taking on a new identity. She does not know the status of her mother, just as she has never known who or what became of her father, and looks upon that former life as a closed chapter, not to be returned.

The Troupe Relations

• Calrian: The young, charismatic whirlwind that invited Salem into The Troupe and went out of his way to help her belong. Salem knows her stringent privacy about her former life perplexes him, and considering how much his reckless and too-friendly nature perplexes her, she considers she and Cal even. Regardless, after some time to acclimate, she has come to enjoy his company.
• Sawyer Cook: Salem can see through some of his woe-is-me-I'm-old shenanigans, but given her own way of doing things, has come to respect Cookie more for it than resent him. His company is simple and easygoing, and she finds their conversations refreshing.
• Adrianna Julia: Along with Vivan, Adrianna is a woman of startling and admirable confidence, and Salem struggles to maintain normal composure in her presence. Given her childhood spent in and out of taverns, Salem has no moral qualms whatsoever of Adrianna's occupation, and quietly wishes she herself could drop all necessary defenses for a moment's indulgence with Adri, too.

• O'Brien: Seems to avoid Salem at most opportunities, and Salem is both keenly aware of it and torn on whether to do anything about it. According to some witch somewhere, Obi seems to think he's bad luck, which Salem finds a load of malarkey.
• Jethro Lykoi: Tough face, nice heart—unlike Marlowe, whom Salem intuitively does not like. As such, she maintains some distance from Jethro as a precaution.
• Adina Inferni: Stiff as a board. Doesn't seem to be malicious, but seems to fit in even less than Salem did at first.
• Malik Amaranthe: Deep thinker. Sincere and kind. Seems to prefer to stay in his brother's shadow. Like night and day together with Calrian, and this very much perplexes Salem.
• Mateo Salcedo: "Literally another Calrian, as if one annoyance wasn't good enough"

Notable Past Relations