Artaith of The Patient Shadows...
Gender: Female Age: 15 Born on the 12th Day of Summer, 497 AV
Artaith is a beautiful girl with bright jade, green eyes and dark red hair. Like all Myrians, her hair is very long. She used to keep it in a braid nearly all the time but, because her lost lover preferred her hair loose, she keeps it down no matter what now. She has a lithe, tanned body like all Myrians and decent sized breasts, not too large nor too small. Though she is quite depressed, she doesn't slump and holds herself proudly and walks with the cat like grace of a hunter or dancer.
Artaith has four studs in each ear and one in her tongue. She has her family tattoo on her upper left arm and a large tattoo to symbolize her lover in the middle of her back. She also has numerous, tiny marks going up her right leg. Unknown to anyone, these marks are her kill count. Every time she killed someone after getting cursed, she cut a small but deep gash in her leg, having it made permanent later the next time she comes to a tattoo parlor.
Artaith wears what is basically the equivalent of a tube top, a tight band of cloth that covers only her breasts and ties in the back, and a loincloth. She prefers to go barefoot but occasionally wears a pair of leather sandals. The sandals were actually her lover's and now she keeps them, as she does with many things, so she can feel closer to him. Even if she were to go someplace colder, she wouldn't dress any differently, not because she can't or because she isn't cold but because she believes she should suffer.
Artaith used to be a very happy, normal teenage Myrian. But now she is reclusive and depressed, sometimes even suicidally so. She only becomes social when she drinks or, on rare occasions, does drugs. Because she is still mourning the loss of her lover, she is always looking for something to distract her from her sorrows, be it drinking, sex, whatever is available really. Many times her one night stands will try to pursue her further and many have tried to earn her love but when she's sober, she has eyes for no man. She left her home because of the painful memories it held but now she wanders from city to city, with no real destination in mind. How long she stays in a city all depends on her experiences in the city.
History
Artaith's childhood was normal and happy. She lived with her family and quickly grew to love hunting and archery. Because of this, she grew to be an excellent hunter and bonded more with her Father but there were no real significant events in her life until she was twelve.
One day, in the summer of 509 AV, Artaith was out hunting alone. She saw movement close to the ground but as she raised her bow, she saw blood and realized it was an injured animal. She approached the area cautiously and discovered it was a tiger, not a Myrian tiger but a regular tiger, tangled in vines and with a fresh gash on its ear. Though she knew tigers to be dangerous, she had a soft spot for animals and quickly cut it loose. When the tiger was loose, however, it quickly changed form. It was then that she realized that it was, very obviously, a male Kelvic. He thanked her but before she could reply, he was a tiger once again, disappearing into the trees.
A few days later, she was hunting when she ran into the Kelvic again, after he accidentally stole her kill. After that, they met up every day and quickly became friends. She kept her Kelvic friend a secret, especially once the friendship turned into a romance.
In the Fall of 511 AV, when Artaith left to meet her lover, an admirer followed her, hoping to get a chance alone with her. She had no idea he was there until it was too late. Artaith was playfully tackled by the Kelvic, much like the way a big dog would greet its owner. But to the boy, it looked like she was being attacked. The boy quickly drew his knife and attacked the tiger boy.
It was a blur of screaming and movement to Artaith as she desperately tried to save her lover. And perhaps he would've won the fight if he hadn't reverted to his human form. By the time Artaith was able to stop the attacker, the Kelvic lay seemingly dead on the ground, bleeding from many wounds.
In a fit of rage and grief, Artaith attacked the killer, wrenching the knife away from him. She pushed him down to the ground and stabbed him over and over, sobs wracking her body. When she finally calmed and stopped, the Kelvic's body had disappeared...
As Artaith ran home, she heard a whisper on the wind, "Murderer..." and as she turned around she saw someone disappearing into the trees. When she got home, being careful to not be seen, she discovered the Vexation curse mark. She washed herself and burned the clothes she had worn when she murdered the boy before hiding away at home, worried about what her parents would say about the mark and what it meant. Of course she couldn't hide for long and the disappearance of the boy didn't go unnoticed. She was forced from hiding to join a search party for the boy.
The curse mark was impossible to hide, it affecting both hands, and she was questioned about it but she knew as much as those who asked what it was. She simply told them it started the day before and nothing else. She purposely avoided the place where she knew the body was but it was just delaying the inevitable. The body was soon discovered and it was obvious it was murder as the knife was still there as well. Artaith panicked and ran back home, clutching her head because her head was pounding.
When questioned about why she ran, she blamed it on being sick, though it wasn't the reason she was in a lot of pain, oblivious to why.
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