Basic InformationRace: Drykas Human
Gender: Female
Height: 5'6
Weight: 127lbs
Birthday: Summer, Day 47, 492 AV
(Aged 18 yrs.)
Athe is a wildflower, a bird that refuses to be caged, a persistent wind that bends the grasses. She would like to think herself an indomitable spirit, but she has more vulnerabilities than she would like to admit. Though she's artistic, opinionated, ambitious, and strong in many senses of the word, she can also be fairly cynical, stubborn, as well as self-isolating. She aspires to be one of Endrykas' prominent tattoo artists, pouring a bit of herself into every windmark design. This Opal Clan woman also dreams of becoming a master staff fighter, more concerned with defending her home from foreign threats than local wildlife. When she has trained herself to an adequate skill level in combat, riding, and medicine, she hopes to be accepted into the Watch.
Accompanying Athe is a Leopardbred mare named Perianth, spotted chestnut with a slender yet solid build, who seems to match her rider in both body type and ambition. Perianth is often a bit more lighthearted and playful than Athe herself, which may serve to balance the Drykas' conflicted personality. Athe acquired Perianth several years ago from a slain human slaver traveling from Riverfall - which she had taken as retribution after that same slaver murdered her Cyphrus Strider. Since then, the pair has grown incredibly close, and Perianth seems to have developed a desire to fill the void left by her lost friend.
Appearance: Lean and a respectable height, Athe is lithe yet limber enough to wield a fighting staff taller than she is. Her long hair has a natural wave to it, and she wears it both down or tied back without an obvious preference. It seems to shift colors - from an fiery red in the sunlight, to an almost dark auburn under a tent canopy. Her eyes are a soft mix of hazel and blue, and across the bridge of her nose is a faded trail of freckles that have all but disappeared with her childhood. |
 Athe's personality is prone to change with the night and day. Almost often, she is restless and finds it uncomfortable not to be moving. Athe can be easily excited, and is often fiery and quite competitive. Anger can be an issue for her as she becomes hot tempered. In her more placated state, she often keeps herself aloof and distant from the goings-on around her, preferring to keep a more observant eye than an active on her surroundings.
She is constantly driven by a powerful urge to prove herself, primarily to those who are close to her, but at the same knows it shouldn't matter what anyone thinks of her. When pushed to the edge, Athe shows a surprising will for self preservation, coupled with a distinct abandonment of mercy.
Perianth, her Leopardbred, seems fond of her, but is often difficult to read. Being an older horse with more experience outside of Endrykas, and even outside of Cyphrus, Perianth is often slow to learn, and Athe has had trouble training her with Pavi commands. Perianth seems eager to please, but simply has trouble grasping the concepts. Unlike her Strider before, Perianth also doesn't seem to discriminate in who she is friendly with: Perianth loves everyone. She might even nuzzle a Zith, given the chance. |
 Athe is the third born child to Michael and Eliana Stormheart, six years younger than her older brother Riki. The wide age gap that separated her from Riki and her even older half-brother Jonas usually led her to keep mostly to herself, particularly since her older brothers were very close. Though she did occasionally spend time with her brothers, she often felt left out of their antics (when they weren't picking on her), and eventually she grew to greatly value her own space. At an early age, she began to show an artistic aptitude, and began to study tattooing methods and designs.
Naturally athletic but also very flexible, Athe showed a fast interest in combat, often dueling her brothers or her cousins with thin wooden swatches. As she grew older, this fixation turned to larger and longer weapons, until she acquired a long, thin tree limb leftover from another pavilion's construction. She found an odd therapeutic joy in teaching herself how to wield the limb as a weapon, practicing twirling techniques, swinging motions, and quick footwork. Athe didn't even know that staves could be considered weapons until she saw other warriors handling them. After this, she decided to master staff fighting, for her an enjoyable mix of athletics, balance, and acrobatics.
Athe made her bond with a Cyphrus Strider at the tender age of seven. Receiving her windmark so young was a painful and difficult process, which took days to recover from. The horse itself, interestingly enough, was only a colt, but it firmly decided on Athe as its bond mate and rarely left her side. The young girl grew with the horse, whom she named Grayfellow, forming a lifetime friendship stronger than she had ever known with any human who wasn't family.
It was nearly ten years later, when she was seventeen, that Athe and Grayfellow were caught unawares in the Sea of Grass near Riverfall in mid Fall. A human traveler on horseback from some unknown origin had been run out of Riverfall and into the Sea of Grass - presumably for some grave crime. Athe didn't stop to ask, nor did she speak Common. To her, the human was simply an outsider. Her Ankal saw the human on the web, coming much too close to the young and inexperienced Athe, a few members of the Watch along with some of her family came riding out to see to her safety. 
Unfortunately, they came too late. Panicked and already badly injured from his altercations in Riverfall, the lone rider simply attacked Athe out of desperation and confusion. An arrow struck Grayfellow in the neck, and the horse threw Athe off his back. The Drykas girl was terrified, and upon realizing the grave injury upon her Strider, became shocked and absolutely mortified. These mixed emotions eventually compounded into a sheer, overwhelming anger.
The lone rider had injured himself shooting his bow, aggravating an injury in his arm that caused him to lose his grip and fall from his own horse. Athe saw this as an opportunity, and charged forward at her attacker to avenge her Strider. Injured as he was and knowing no Pavi, the foreign rider simply could not defend himself from the enraged teenager. That man became Athe's first kill, that day.
By the time Athe's family and their small Watch entourage came to her aid, she had already removed the rider's head with her knife, beginning to prepare a pike out of the man's bow. Grayfellow, her bonded Strider and long time friend, had already bled out into the Cyphrus grasses. As a final retribution, Athe took the foreigner's horse as her own. The Leopardbred mare was older, gentle, and experienced, and came along as if she had known Athe her whole life.
Athe later named the Leopardbred Perianth, because the horse seemed fond of nipping flower heads off their stalks. Since then, she has begun the difficult process of retraining the horse to respond to Pavi commands and grow comfortable with a yvas instead of the saddle she had grown used to.
Since then, Athe has become more bitter, still quietly grieving for her lost friend. She aspires to one day join the Watch and help defend Endrykas and all of Cyphrus against foreign threats and protect the Drykas from suffering a fate similar to hers. |
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by Athe Stormheart on May 26th, 2011, 3:10 pm 
