Lau'ika's reference sheet 2019

Lo and behold; Lau'ika's character reference has been updated to 2019! I mainly updated her info, as the picture from 2015 still represents her appearance sufficiently. I'll probably make a new one at some point, but we'll see.

Background: Lau'ika was born in the heart of a dangerous jungle world. She learned to fend for herself early in her life, as her mother abandoned her when she was old enough to walk and talk. Her kind are loners by nature, so it wasn't unusual. For the same reason Lau'ika has never seen her father. Lau'ika spent most of her early years hunting insects, small lizards, birds, gathering fruits and roots. She learned all this on her own and via interactions with creatures of her homeworld that weren't trying to eat her whole. Thanks to her natural ability to regenerate, Lau'ika was safe from most harm. For the same reason the troll has a very fast metabolism and thus is hungry almost all the time, forcing her to be constantly on the lookout for food. Learning of and mastering her natural troll magic allowed young Lau'ika learn how to effectively disguise herself and hide from bigger predators as well.
        One day, Lau'ika came upon a small village. Similar to her in appearance yet different in colour and smaller in stature, these humanoids were surprised to find Lau'ika's kind near their settlement. Seeing this is as a good sign from their gods, the villagers came to worship her as a guardian deity. As the troll woman had no name of her own, the villagers dubbed her Lau'ika - Goddess Great Bottom - after her noticeable behind. Lau'ika was in for a life of ease, as the villagers showered her with attention, jewelry and food. In return, she kept the settlement's vicinity safe from the more dangerous wild animals the village hunters couldn't handle. This arrangement lasted for years, and it left its mark on the maturing troll. The copious amounts of food combined with a relatively passive lifestyle fattened the troll up, engorging her already shapely figure larger. Her status eventually evolved into fertility goddess and many a woman came to ask for her blessings. Having no idea what was really going on, the big troll simply played along thinking it was a game of some sort.
        This relationship wasn't to last, unfortunately. As Lau'ika grew both in height and girth, so did her appetite. Resources started to diminish quicker than Lau'ika could eat, leaving more and more villagers hungry. As supporting the ever-hungrier goddess wasn't sustainable anymore, the villagers started to see her presence more a curse than blessing. They didn't want to anger the goddess, though, so the village elders devised a ploy to convince her to leave on her own volition. Lau'ika swallowed the lies and left, unsure of what this "greater purpose" was she was sent out to fulfill. She was given ample amount of provisions and protective trinkets for her journey, not knowing that she was to never return.
        Returning back to a life of hunting and gathering was tough for Lau'ika, who had gotten used to all the pampering and attention. She also felt very lonely without her worshipers, so much that Lau'ika unwittingly brought a voodoo doll crafted in her image to life with her troll magic. After weeks of arduous wandering, the troll came across a rift in reality, brimming with strange energies. Curiosity got the best of Lau'ika and she did the expected thing; touching the swirling vortex, the troll was transported to another world by a sudden burst of prismatic light. This strange world was intriguing to Lau'ika, and once she recovered from the magical transportation she set out to explore the enormous village she had appeared in. It took time for her to adjust, but she eventually learned the basics of this thing called "being human" and moved from scavenging trash cans and sleeping in the alleys to living in an apartment and buying her food from markets and stores. Not a fan of big crowds and lack of natural vegetation, she decided move out of the city and got herself a job at a modest dairy farm on the countryside.

Personality: Having had very little or no proper social interaction most of her life, Lau'ika appears simple. Her low social skills leave her confused and awkward in social situations more often than not. She's nice to people, even if in a cautious way. Despite having returned to her reclusive ways prior to her life as goddess, Lau'ika still yearns for the times when she was being worshiped and fed. Despite her naivety, Lau'ika seems to possess intuition that lets her learn the raw basics of most things relatively quickly.
She likes to spend time in natural surroundings, feeling the most home in woods and heavily forested areas. Big crowds make her uncomfortable, which is why she tries to avoid popular places. She tends to watch people from afar, quietly studying how others go about their daily lives. She avoids showing her normal form to the public, mainly because of negative experiences with humans in the past. When she wishes to avoid attention altogether, she wears the form of a small animal.
Lau'ika dislikes clothing in general, as she feels they're restrictive and stifling, and wears typically the simplest and most easily removable clothes whenever out in the public. She specifically hates footwear and wears them only when she must.

Relations: Lau'ika doesn't have many friends, thanks to her low social skills. She knows the people she works with at the farm, but she has never formed solid friendships with them. From the BlooberBoy's residence, she met Lilah on a walk on the countryside, and through the elf she came to know Anyssa, Nyka, and BlooberBoy. She's not revealed her true form to them yet, though, so the group only knows her as the tall heavily-freckled human blonde she appears in public.
Lilah senses, that not all in the troll-in-disguise is as it seems, but she's not sure what that is. She enjoys walks in the woods with Lau'ika, although deep down the elf thinks the other can be a somewhat boring conversationalist. Nyka she likes to hang out with during her work breaks, as well as outside of work every now and then. While Lau'ika wonders why the other is so obsessed with milk, she can relate with her own nigh-constant hankering of food.
She's not sure why Anyssa doesn't seem to like her as much, but Lau'ika doesn't judge the catgirl for it. What she doesn't realize is, that the reason is mostly because Anyssa's expansive touch doesn't work on the troll and instead gets reflected on the catgirl herself. Sometimes Lau'ika's aura causes Anyssa's powers to act up randomly, too, which leads to the catgirl keeping her distance and being careful around the bigger woman in general.
The troll has no idea of Mimi's existence, because the chibi hides whenever she's around. The few times she has seen the little naga girl, Lau'ika's thought her to be an animated voodoo doll similar to hers.
Lau'ika's most curious about Lynda. At first they met during the work hours, when the troll-in-disguise was tasked to give tours to the teacher and her students around the farm, but after that Lynda started to visit her outside of work hours as well. They started to bond and eventually became friends. Lau'ika is surprised at Lynda getting more and more interested in her, but she doesn't see it as a bad thing. In fact, the attention vaguely reminds her of the life in the village back in her home world. She welcomes the attention, but has also noticed being more interested in the smaller woman herself, rather than just the food she gets. For the first time, she's feeling a connection with someone she's not felt before, and Lau'ika is curious to find out what it might lead to.

Other notable: Lau'ika's an innately magical creature, who is almost completely immune to magic. Only the most powerful of incantations and enchantments work on her, but most effects targeting her are either reflected or simply negated. Her body's metabolism is also incredibly fast, allowing her to recover from most wounds with ease. Fire is one of the few things capable of permanently hurting her, and she avoids that as best as she can.
Lau'ika possesses the power to change her appearance for a limited time. She typically uses it to appear human whenever she leaves her home. Sometimes she turns into small animals when feeling like having some fun, and she sneaks in and around people's homes to catch glimpses of their doings. Lau'ika retains her physical strength and appetite while transformed, which might lead to surprising situations with other people. The magic requires concentration, though, and any illusion breaks down if Lau'ika gets too distracted. Her prodigious hunger is a major distraction and it's most often the reason for the troll reverting back to her normal form unintentionally. She also cannot maintain any illusions while she's asleep, unless specifically aided by her voodoo doll.
The voodoo doll, called Dolly, she always has with her is alive, at least appears to be. Thanks to Lau'ika's loneliness back when she left the village of smaller trolls, her innate magic took control of the doll and gave it a semblance of life. It always stays by her side, going away or staying behind only when Lau'ika wishes so. Even then it keeps looking in the troll's direction as it waits. The doll doesn't talk, but can express emotions with body language and simple facial expressions. It also shares some of Lau'ika's personality, sometimes acting as if a miniature version of its owner.
The main role of the doll is to protect Lau'ika. It does this by maintaining illusions when the troll is unable to do it herself and sometimes channeling other effects to either distract or dissuade possible threats. Dolly can sometimes wander off to explore things on its own, but it usually stays relatively close to its owner.