Character History
"I died when I was only twenty-four. Had a knife thrust into my chest 10 times before I fell, for the first time. I don't remember any of that though. I don't remember much of that life, the one that came before my plunge into the sea. My birth amongst the rocky shore, in a cradle of bubbles and sea foam."
I fell from the sky of Spring 88, 458 AV, crashing into the blue-green waters that surround Zeltiva. I sank towards the sand, surrounded by a ring of rocks, and bubbles which popped all around me as I kicked towards the surface. My strawberry-blonde hair swirling around me, dragging me down as I glanced up at the waters rocking above my head. I could see the sun shining down upon the water, Syna guiding me home as a braided, darkened cord of brown caught my eye. My vision of the sun flickered, as the brown cords multiplied. They were all woven together, falling lower and lower, swaying only slightly with the movement of the waves.
I tried to propel my body around the brown strands; but found they were everywhere. Closing in on me. Within moments, they had pressed themselves into my naked flesh. Pushing against my bones, my shimmering skin. Dragging lightly against it with the water, causing it to redden and tingle as it tightened around me; trapping me, choking me. Only a few minutes into my new life, and I was convinced that it would already be over. That I would be stuck down there forever. But there was a gentle tug on that which bound me, coming from above. Within seconds, I could feel the net being dragged out of the water. My body being pressed more tightly against the rope cords, twisting as the ropes twisted; one of my legs dangling out of a large hole in the rope, while my arms stretched upwards as it tightened. My hands searching for something to wrap myself around so that I may hoist myself up.
But there was no need. For soon enough, my horned head was poking out of the surface of the water. Several clear drops dripping off my glistening skin as I took my first breath of salt-stained air. As I felt the sun's gentle golden rays upon my flesh for the first time. As I finally opened my eyes, and caught my first glimpses of the world, above the water's surface. I could hear people shouting, but at the time, didn't know the words. I could feel more tugging against the rope, my body contorting to compensate for the movements as the netting was dragged onto a boat. It flattened against the boat's deck, unfurling to let me free as I coughed several times, my legs curled beneath me as I stared into each of the eyes that had settled upon me. Not truly taking in the color of my skin, or how my flesh was bare, but my golden-colored hair, and the twin horns that sprouted from beneath the strands.
 One of the men tossed me his tunic, and with some difficulty, I put it on. After that, I simply sat on the deck in silence, listening to the voices of the men shouting to one another. When the sun finally set, I shifted into the being I once was in another life. That simply caused the fishermen to stare all the more. Whether that was due to my beauty, or their own superstition, I cannot be sure. I simply know that I am thankful that their fear didn't drive them to madness; drive them to cast me back out to sea, to drown.
That night, since I had no where else of my own to go, one of the braver, young fishermen, Caleb, took me home with him. He tried to feed me, but I would not eat, instead, exhausted, I simply slept. The next day, when I awoke, he was already gone, leaving me confused, scared and alone. I stayed in his cottage all day, looking for him, and studying all the strange things he owned. When he returned that night from another day at sea, he seemed surprised to still find me there, and soon, realizing that I had no where to go, and next to no knowledge to my name, he began to teach me how to speak Common, and tend to the house while he was away. Soon enough, I grew tired of this, and chose to venture out, away from the cottage. Sometimes Caleb would accompany me during the time he did not spend working, but most of the time, I went alone.
Once I had mastered Common, I began to take lessons at the local University, to help pass the time I spent on my own. I took lessons in astronomy and hypnotism; hoping to finally understand the stars I so loved to gaze upon each night, the stars which guided Caleb home safely after a long day out on the waters. I was thankful for the stars, and thankful for Caleb; the one man who took me in when I had no shelter. The one man who took the time to teach and nurture me, when he did not have to. It did not take me long to realize that I loved him, but each time I tried to tell him that, to show him, he seemed to push me away as though he were afraid; or simply, did not love me back. It was for that, my selfish need to be loved by him in return, that I took up hypnotism at the University. Only to realize, that true love could never be fabricated, and even with magic, I never really stood a chance. I could never hold him the way I wanted, or look at him the way I wanted, tell him how I felt, because his heart belonged elsewhere.
Yet, even after I had made the realization, I kept on going, hoping against all hope that one day I would become powerful enough to alter the predicament I found myself in. A predicament in which I was in love with a man who had saved me, taught me everything I knew, but did not feel the way I felt about him. A predicament in which I could be little more than a friend, and housemaid. Years went by in which I studied, and finally, I decided that perhaps the best way to get Caleb to like me was to spend more time with him. To show him that I too, enjoyed the things he was interested in. I asked Caleb if he would take me out to sea with him, and show me how to fish so that I may help him to support each of us. Each time, he refused to take me along, saying that the sea was no place for a woman, it was simply, too dangerous.
Perhaps it were only best that I allowed myself to be defeated. For, a few months passed without my asking, in which we each went about our separate lives. Until one day, a storm rolled in, catching Caleb when he was out at sea. He was tossed overboard, and was soon lost to the ice-cold, churning waters of Laviku's sea. Those who had survived that particular expedition, came to visit as soon as the storm had cleared up, and told me what had happened. I cried for several days, before finally deciding it best to finally move on with my life, see what there is to see. I took little with me, just a bag with some food, toiletries, flint and steel, and Caleb's prized bastard sword. It was his father's before him, and he only took it out from time to time to stare at the fine steel. Constantly claiming that he would never learn how to use it because he was a humble fisherman, and not a military man. He didn't wish to line it with fish scales, or stain it with another's blood.
From Zeltiva, I traveled to Kalea, settling first in Lhavit, for a few years, where I continued to study the stars, and began to practice the use of Caleb's old sword. At times, I'd spar with aspiring Shinya, helping to teach them as they taught me, before moving onto Alvadas, where I was taught everything I should ever want to know about illusion. After having learned all that I desired to there, I continued on, stumbling upon Denval. It is there that I hope to learn even more about the world; the people in it, from the perspective of those who have been strangely removed from things, it seems. |
by Nashira on September 18th, 2011, 12:47 am 