Feathers

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'Feathers'
Known by no other name, Feathers claims to have adopted the pseudonym from her singing days, due to her love of decorating herself with her namesake. Some used to joke it was because she would 'sing like a starling' when offered payment comprised of dinner and mead.

Appearance
Her hair is as black as black can be, always tied out of her face and straw-like in appearance - having been worn away by outdoorsy work and sunlight. Her leathery skin is likewise sun-worn, but an attractive hue of earthy brown which makes up for the damage in warmth.

Her eyes are cunning and quick, despite her slow tongue, and she rarely misses a thing when she's in form. Feathers' mouth is thin and drawn; the wrinkles at the corners are as expressive as her eyebrows at the least.

As if nigh-worshipping them has affected her personality, Feathers even acts rather cat-like at times. While not a physically-attractive woman by standards, her self-confidence and powerful knowledge of her own limitations grants her the aloofness and disinterest of a feline. It takes much to quirk her brow with respect, but once earned, it is difficult to shake.

Usually seen leading an enormous black draught gelding, called Motley. Also owns a smaller mare - yet no less lacking in power and agility - that has been trained for cavalry duties, called Susie. What she's doing with a beast of war isn't exactly known.

To put Bread on the Table
Feathers is a minstrel. Not a celebrated minstrel, no, but known about secluded village taverns and cold mountain towns nonetheless. She makes a point of visiting those that have paid her generously in the past at least once a year, bringing songs and news from distant lands to refresh the minds of the locals.

She is a skilled palm- and tarot-reader, and never hesitates to make some easy coin from this lucrative business. Despite always agreeing with nay-sayers that her skills in this field are, in fact, bogus, people continue to seek her out. She has gained small groups of regular customers who always pay generously for a reading whenever she's about.

As a practicing hedge-witch, her most successful venue has been the selling of herbal cures, which -- unlike her reading skills -- are indeed potent and effective. She takes pride in the preparation and presentation of these compounds, and the trunks of herbals that Motley carries for her are always neat and organised.

A lesser-known skill she has practiced for some time is that of rune-casting. This is a skill that she never offers to customers lightly; it is saved only for the most serious or good-intentioned of persons. As with her cures, her rune-casting is entirely honest. (Contrary to popular belief, she cannot discern the future by casting. She can, however, find clues to past and present in a casting. As each casting can give multiple meanings, she is occasionally able to give a much more detailed and satisfying reading than the customer was expecting. Of course, they never receive the information that they thought they might receive, and sometimes don't discover the meaning of the reading until some time has passed.)

Púca
With the right herbs, incantations, runes and mind-frame, Feathers has mastered the ability to project her essence and meld it with that of her cat familiar's, Shiva. By doing so, she can take the form of a great black spirit-cat, and leave her physical body behind for a time. The Púca Ritual, as she calls it, is highly demanding both physically and mentally; she only 'shapeshifts' in this sense when she has no other choice. It can take up to a week to fully recover from becoming Púca.