by Esma Bates on August 9th, 2018, 4:26 pm
History
Esma was the only child born to Yanoro and Nadya Bates. They lived in Syliras, in the Illythian District. They were quite wealthy, Yanoro being a Syliran Knight and Nadya being a Silkena breeder. Much of Esma's childhood involved going to parties in the Illythian Ballroom and watching shows at the theatre. Her schooling was done with a tutor at home, so she didn't go out and meet peers often. Looking back, she considers her childhood "boring and lonely".
As she grew into a young woman, Esma started getting hopeful suitors looking for her hand in marriage. None of them amused her, though, and definitely didn't seduce her. She had no interest in marriage, because that would require her staying in a lonely upperclass lifestyle, possibly having children - which she did not want. So she turned them all down, at first telling them why before eventually saying simply she did not want to get married to anyone. Not with how things were planning to be, at least. If she got married, she would want to get married under different circumstances with different goals.
She also was offered many jobs through the years. They were all simple jobs, like selling clothes or equipment and goods for travelers. But as she grew older, Esma wanted to leave Syliras completely, and make a living doing what she considered "real work", mainly hunting and creating tools for others to use. These were jobs that she believed benefited everyone, not just upperclassmen who could afford it.
When she heard about the new settlement Syka, and how everyone would be working together to build it, she was overjoyed. That was exactly what she wanted! She made plans to travel there, and use her skills as a carver and hunter to contribute to the settlement. Everyone needed tools, after all, and she could make them. However her skills weren't quite expert level, and she only knew how to work with wood - not stone or metal. But that was her goal: develop these skills while helping build Syka into a proper settlement.
In Summer of 518, she bought a ticket on a trading ship and headed for Syka. She arrived just as Fall was beginning.
Last edited by
Esma Bates on August 16th, 2018, 7:44 am, edited 3 times in total.