semaj009
Villager
Name: Sarmåj
Nickname/Alias: Samå
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 85 kg
Hair: Naturally: Deep Brown, Style: shaven/bald
Eyes: Burnt/missing, replaced by sorcery - green fire - see History for details.
Skin: Dark Tanned
Identifying Marks: 5 o'clock shadow and moustache/beard. Green fire over eye sockets. Always wears glowing green rings on each hand.
Appearance: Often shirtless, wearing leather boots/gloves and with tools (eg. axe, bow, pick axe, sword) strapped to his back/side. Wears forest green dappled hood+jerkin when hunting. Almost always wearing iron pauldrons. Also wears armour (complete with greaves, helmet, chest plate and boots) [Note: Skin bears armour. I don't mean mc armour]
Strengths: Brave, honest, generally good-willed. Explorative. Hunting.
Weaknesses ...: Burden of debt to Sallanna, too compassionate regarding most races, too incompassionate regarding greylings. Less inclined to fight than talk.
and fears: Loss of Home, Loss of Family, destruction of Capariine Groves
Religion and cults: Acolyte of Sallanna, Soldier of Sallanna, Capariinism.
Profession: Acolyte of Sallanna, woodsman, hunter/trapper, herbalist
History: PC 192: In the farthest West regions of Altera, a child was born. His father, Serüt Lallja, a warrior of the Tribe Ølgüté, and his mother, Gweylin Ka'ata, a herbalist Priestess of Sallanna, both knelt over the child, their ninth, and anointed him Sarmåj, Ninth of House Lallja'ata. His elder siblings, his parents and the priests left the room, letting him sleep, and also because they knew that the child must face the next part of his journey alone.
After dark, a lone Caparii ranger stalked into the camp and retrieved the child, not as one might expect to the horror of the recent parents. The parents knew that every child must be raised by the Caparii, as Ølgüté tradition dictates, partially because the rapid growth of Caparii through youth seems to rub off onto the human children, who, in the presence of rapidly maturing Capariine kids, seem to mature mentally faster. Around the age of 12, the children return to their parents. However, Sarmåj was not returned at 12. The human children who were unable to return with their Caparii foster parents, as the Caparii could only leave their hallowed grove in the first half of the week, as a sign of respect for their goddess Shalherana, and the young humans were certainly capable of defending themselves from wolves, spiders and the other usual forest dangers, but not all the dangers are from forest inhabitants.
On the journey home, Greylings ambushed the group of human youngsters, capturing three of the six, inclusing Sarmåj. The three caught children were taken miles and miles to the north, through tundra, desert, ocean and swamp until they reached the Greyling fort. Unable to protect themselves from the torture and experiments, the three children languished in the dungeons for near on five years. In this time, one of the three Ølgüté children was killed, one driven mad, and one cursed never to be able to return home, to either his human or Caparii families. Sarmåj, knowing he was now effectively orphaned, began to lament his fate, cursing the gods for their cruelty, and was on the verge of denouncing the gods and godesses entirely when, a month before his 18th birthday, he was visited by a servant of Sallanna, who informed him that his priestess mother's prayers had been so frequent and loud for half a decade, that Sallanna had decided it necessary to breach her desire not to physically contact mortals. Sarmåj was warned, by the servant, that any contact with the goddess for the uninitiated could lead to blindness and incapacitation, and that only if Sarmåj really desired escape from the fort dungeons, would Sallanna risk such an entrance. Sarmåj, eager to return home quickly obliged.
Sallanna appeared as glowing light, vaguely in the shape of a woman, but ever shifting as if made of some amethyst crystalline smoke. Almost instantly Sarmåj was overcome by her beauty, but also, unbeknownst to him, stricken with blindness, for her glow was so intense that his eyes burnt out, although in his mind he could still see her, feel her, sense her with all of his being, as if she were inside all of him at once, and at the same time separate. Suddenly a voice came to him in his head.
"Look now, for you will see!" the voice glistened, "I have sensed your innocence and grieve for your past and for your mother's burden. I have healed your sight, and you may now look upon me without fear of blindness, although your eyes remain beyond repair."
Sarmåj opened his eyes, looked unto the goddess and for the first time could discern a figure. Clad in white and violet silk robes, with a crown of purest crystal, the figure was stunning. Suddenly, and without warning it transformed into a white dove, and flew to Sarmåj, perching itself on his shoulder. With her brilliant form out of his way, Sarmåj was able to observe his surroundings. A dense forest, which he could not say he recognised, dotted with lilypads in the streams, and spruce and birch trees intertwining along a golden path which seemed unending.
"You are now free of the Greylings for now," the goddess explained, "but I shall never again be able to directly help you. For the servant you were sent was your mother, and in order for me to be able to heal your vision, she begged me to take hers. Such is the greatness of your debt to love, that I may not influence directly your actions until your devotion to me is proven. As an Ølgüté male, your are expected to be strong, wilful, and protective of the natural wonders, but now, you are also a hallowed soul, cursed never to reunite with kin, cursed with the burden of repaying love, and marked as such. I must now go. Repay your debt, and your harvest's bounty will be ensured."
Sarmåj suddenly felt alone, the forest dimmed and he realised that he was lost. The golden road glowed no more, and vines grew down across it from the nearby birches. He decided not to follow the road into the forest, but head for the stream. There he could see himself, for his eyes felt at once cool and fiery. To his horror, he realised that his eyes were entirely absent from his face, replaced by two green glowing patches, which although divine, he did not immediately come to accept. The horrifying nature of the flickering flames terrified him so much that he dove straight into the pond. He felt the flames get stronger, and remembering the words of the goddess, he swam to shore. He would earn his sight!
Still unsure of his location, Sarmåj walked south, following the stream, the moss on the trees and using stellar bodies as a compass, until he stumbled across a Druid's temple. The druid, seeing instantly Sarmåj for what he was, gave him food and allowed him to rest for as long as necessary. Sarmåj asked of the nearest town, and the druid replied that the nearest human village lay on the coast, three miles east. Sarmåj was pleased at the news, estimating the length of his trek to be around twelve miles already. He quickly made it to the coastal village and stowed away on a fishing boat, in order to find a larger town which had a temple to Sallanna, in order to pay his respects. Unfortunately, the ship was caught in a heavy storm and Sarmåj was washed overboard, finding his way through paddling towards land, where he was found by the Sisterhood, washed up on the shores of Altera, not quite dead, but unconscious.
Nickname/Alias: Samå
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 85 kg
Hair: Naturally: Deep Brown, Style: shaven/bald
Eyes: Burnt/missing, replaced by sorcery - green fire - see History for details.
Skin: Dark Tanned
Identifying Marks: 5 o'clock shadow and moustache/beard. Green fire over eye sockets. Always wears glowing green rings on each hand.
Appearance: Often shirtless, wearing leather boots/gloves and with tools (eg. axe, bow, pick axe, sword) strapped to his back/side. Wears forest green dappled hood+jerkin when hunting. Almost always wearing iron pauldrons. Also wears armour (complete with greaves, helmet, chest plate and boots) [Note: Skin bears armour. I don't mean mc armour]
Strengths: Brave, honest, generally good-willed. Explorative. Hunting.
Weaknesses ...: Burden of debt to Sallanna, too compassionate regarding most races, too incompassionate regarding greylings. Less inclined to fight than talk.
and fears: Loss of Home, Loss of Family, destruction of Capariine Groves
Religion and cults: Acolyte of Sallanna, Soldier of Sallanna, Capariinism.
Profession: Acolyte of Sallanna, woodsman, hunter/trapper, herbalist
History: PC 192: In the farthest West regions of Altera, a child was born. His father, Serüt Lallja, a warrior of the Tribe Ølgüté, and his mother, Gweylin Ka'ata, a herbalist Priestess of Sallanna, both knelt over the child, their ninth, and anointed him Sarmåj, Ninth of House Lallja'ata. His elder siblings, his parents and the priests left the room, letting him sleep, and also because they knew that the child must face the next part of his journey alone.
After dark, a lone Caparii ranger stalked into the camp and retrieved the child, not as one might expect to the horror of the recent parents. The parents knew that every child must be raised by the Caparii, as Ølgüté tradition dictates, partially because the rapid growth of Caparii through youth seems to rub off onto the human children, who, in the presence of rapidly maturing Capariine kids, seem to mature mentally faster. Around the age of 12, the children return to their parents. However, Sarmåj was not returned at 12. The human children who were unable to return with their Caparii foster parents, as the Caparii could only leave their hallowed grove in the first half of the week, as a sign of respect for their goddess Shalherana, and the young humans were certainly capable of defending themselves from wolves, spiders and the other usual forest dangers, but not all the dangers are from forest inhabitants.
On the journey home, Greylings ambushed the group of human youngsters, capturing three of the six, inclusing Sarmåj. The three caught children were taken miles and miles to the north, through tundra, desert, ocean and swamp until they reached the Greyling fort. Unable to protect themselves from the torture and experiments, the three children languished in the dungeons for near on five years. In this time, one of the three Ølgüté children was killed, one driven mad, and one cursed never to be able to return home, to either his human or Caparii families. Sarmåj, knowing he was now effectively orphaned, began to lament his fate, cursing the gods for their cruelty, and was on the verge of denouncing the gods and godesses entirely when, a month before his 18th birthday, he was visited by a servant of Sallanna, who informed him that his priestess mother's prayers had been so frequent and loud for half a decade, that Sallanna had decided it necessary to breach her desire not to physically contact mortals. Sarmåj was warned, by the servant, that any contact with the goddess for the uninitiated could lead to blindness and incapacitation, and that only if Sarmåj really desired escape from the fort dungeons, would Sallanna risk such an entrance. Sarmåj, eager to return home quickly obliged.
Sallanna appeared as glowing light, vaguely in the shape of a woman, but ever shifting as if made of some amethyst crystalline smoke. Almost instantly Sarmåj was overcome by her beauty, but also, unbeknownst to him, stricken with blindness, for her glow was so intense that his eyes burnt out, although in his mind he could still see her, feel her, sense her with all of his being, as if she were inside all of him at once, and at the same time separate. Suddenly a voice came to him in his head.
"Look now, for you will see!" the voice glistened, "I have sensed your innocence and grieve for your past and for your mother's burden. I have healed your sight, and you may now look upon me without fear of blindness, although your eyes remain beyond repair."
Sarmåj opened his eyes, looked unto the goddess and for the first time could discern a figure. Clad in white and violet silk robes, with a crown of purest crystal, the figure was stunning. Suddenly, and without warning it transformed into a white dove, and flew to Sarmåj, perching itself on his shoulder. With her brilliant form out of his way, Sarmåj was able to observe his surroundings. A dense forest, which he could not say he recognised, dotted with lilypads in the streams, and spruce and birch trees intertwining along a golden path which seemed unending.
"You are now free of the Greylings for now," the goddess explained, "but I shall never again be able to directly help you. For the servant you were sent was your mother, and in order for me to be able to heal your vision, she begged me to take hers. Such is the greatness of your debt to love, that I may not influence directly your actions until your devotion to me is proven. As an Ølgüté male, your are expected to be strong, wilful, and protective of the natural wonders, but now, you are also a hallowed soul, cursed never to reunite with kin, cursed with the burden of repaying love, and marked as such. I must now go. Repay your debt, and your harvest's bounty will be ensured."
Sarmåj suddenly felt alone, the forest dimmed and he realised that he was lost. The golden road glowed no more, and vines grew down across it from the nearby birches. He decided not to follow the road into the forest, but head for the stream. There he could see himself, for his eyes felt at once cool and fiery. To his horror, he realised that his eyes were entirely absent from his face, replaced by two green glowing patches, which although divine, he did not immediately come to accept. The horrifying nature of the flickering flames terrified him so much that he dove straight into the pond. He felt the flames get stronger, and remembering the words of the goddess, he swam to shore. He would earn his sight!
Still unsure of his location, Sarmåj walked south, following the stream, the moss on the trees and using stellar bodies as a compass, until he stumbled across a Druid's temple. The druid, seeing instantly Sarmåj for what he was, gave him food and allowed him to rest for as long as necessary. Sarmåj asked of the nearest town, and the druid replied that the nearest human village lay on the coast, three miles east. Sarmåj was pleased at the news, estimating the length of his trek to be around twelve miles already. He quickly made it to the coastal village and stowed away on a fishing boat, in order to find a larger town which had a temple to Sallanna, in order to pay his respects. Unfortunately, the ship was caught in a heavy storm and Sarmåj was washed overboard, finding his way through paddling towards land, where he was found by the Sisterhood, washed up on the shores of Altera, not quite dead, but unconscious.