Iztali

"The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls...and tenement halls...and whispered in the sounds of silence." ~Paul Simon
Introduction xxxxxDescription: The child of an American father and a Mexican mother, Tali strongly favours her mother's Mayan blood in her appearance. Standing a respectable 5'3", her mixed heritage manages to carry her to the tall end of 'short-statured'. She typically wears her long, straight black hair pulled back in a hasty and distracted fashion, just enough to keep it out of her deep chocolate eyes. An ever-present bemused smile and faraway gaze soften her high cheekbones and strong jaw line. While Tali is fairly dependent on her reading glasses, they tend to spend more time tucked into her collar or perched atop her head than sitting on her nose where they belong. Tali’s wardrobe emphasizes function over fashion, with her average ensemble seeming equally comfortable on a hike through rocky terrain or a long day in a dusty corner of the university library. xxxxxPersonality: The eternal student, Tali possesses an abundance of childlike curiosity and enthusiasm. She can come across as distant and distractible, but those who take the time to engage her interest will quickly discover her more passionate nature. Tali is a warm and fast friend when she can remember to get her nose out of the latest book, research paper, or artefact that has consumed her attention. History xxxxxBackground: Tali fell into the world of academia quite naturally, with her father a professor of archaeology from New York and her mother a respected cultural anthropologist in Mexico City. Her parents never found it practical to marry, rather maintaining separate households in their countries of origin. Tali enjoys dual citizenship in the United States and Mexico and was raised bouncing between one and the other. Her childhood consisted more of fieldwork and lectures than play with age-mates. xxxxxTali’s split life continues into her adult years. She is now a doctoral student of anthropology, focusing in archaeology and Mesoamerican studies, with associations at the Columbia University Graduate School and the Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia (ENAH) in Mexico City. She maintains connections with a small collection of friends and family members in both of her homes, but tends to remain more on the periphery of these groups due to her transient nature and the demands of her educational program. xxxxxSkills: Cultural diversity and depth of education are Tali’s strengths. She was raised bilingual, speaking both English and Spanish in her homes. She has also become conversant in several of the more prevalent indigenous languages in Mexico. While history and sociology are her areas of primary interest, Tali also enjoys a more than adequate scientific background applicable to her fieldwork. Tali has a talent for quickly integrating herself into new groups and adapting to their social mores. Her enthusiasm and nearly obsessive nature can be quite infectious. For an academic, Tali’s survival skills are relatively well honed from treks through largely uninhabited jungle for archaeological field research. xxxxxTali is as voracious a writer as she is a reader, and she can often be found scribbling or typing into the small hours of the night. She has enjoyed a great deal of success in this endeavour, with publications of academic literature in journals, occasional non-fiction pieces in magazines, and a collection of Spanish language historical short fiction. Powers xxxxxTali always had a “runaway imagination”, stories spilling out of her full-formed from a relatively early age. Just stepping into a room or handling an item would fill her with a strange familiarity with the sort of people who must have frequented the place or the sort of way the thing must be used. This “creativity” served her well in her chosen field of study, as she always seemed to have the greatest “hunches” about what a fragment of ceramic would have been when whole, or why a room in a crumbling ruin was designed the way it was. Her collection of short stories was all tales that just seemed to come to her while she was working in the field. Tali never thought these skills were anything out of the ordinary. xxxxxRecent events have started to change her mind. After an incident where she accidentally cut herself with an ancient ritual knife she was handling, her “hunches” seem to be turning into overwhelming memories: immersive scenes with surround-sound and tactile interaction. A few times, Tali swears that she even passed along these consuming experiences to another person just by describing them verbally…but she has no control over when or how it happens. More and more, she picks up information that she couldn’t possibly know from passing interaction with objects and spaces. Her head is starting to feel uncomfortably crowded. Connections Friends Isra - A lifeline in a sea of noise. Also, she really knows her astronomy... Fellow doctoral student at Columbia. Felix - A blessed gift of silence and an experienced guide. Also a former doctoral student at Columbia, but more mathematical, and a collector of books. Foes Well, that's a bit dramatic, isn't it? Ongoing Observation Required Gallery	Iztali "Tali" Choben Codename None Birthdate May 01, 1987 Species Mutant Affiliation None Alignment Scholar Powers Psychometry Occupation Doctoral student, Writer RP Hooks Bibliophile - Tali is obsessed with books, which dominate most of her time...and space, if her apartment is any indication. On campus - For the past few years, Tali has been a fixture on the Columbia graduate campus as a doctoral student, researcher, and TA. Caffeine is faster than sleep - It's easy enough to find Tali at local shops that sell caffeinated beverages. Especially if they serve a decent yerba mate. With a little help from my friends - Tali has only recently discovered the nature of her "powers" and is looking for a little guidance...by hanging around places where they say "those mutant types" congregate.
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