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Active Kitrana Dawnriver, the "Old" Witch

French Roast

Lord of Altera
Pronouns
She/Her
French_Roast
French_Roast
103858


<GENERAL INFORMATION>

Name: Kitrana Venna-Dawnriver

Other Names: Kit (some close friends she allows to call her this)

Titles: Dame

95645
Charybdis

Age: 34

Race: Human

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Heterosexual


Current Residence: Blackrush Crossing

Relationship Status: Married

Social Status: Noble






<PHYSICAL APPEARANCE>

Height:
5'10

Weight: 169 lbs.

Eye Color: Hazel

Skin Color: A pale northern skin tone

Shape of Face: Heart-shaped

Distinguishing Features:
~ Her brand mark on her upper left arm, the animancy symbol

Build of Body: Toned and athletic

Hair Color: Blonde

Hair Style: Usually in a French braid that runs to about her mid-back

Complexion: Light, cool

Posture: Straight-backed and noble, holding herself well


Scars:
~ A persisting brand mark on her upper left arm
~ A thick, jagged, dark scar in her left shoulder from a dragon claw
~ A dark scar in her right shoulder from a stabwound
~ A short, thick scar across her left cheek from a jagged wound
~ A scar from a small stab to her lower left thigh

~ Dark, long claw marks across the back of her right hand

Voice: Alto, clear, generally calm and even

93552
Elz





<PERSONALITY>

Likes:
~ To a degree, she likes to spend time with people, though depending on the day she is more of a passive observer. She generally prefers the company of close friends now, and finds herself more withdrawn and loathe to interact with strangers outside of necessity.

~ She enjoys gaining new knowledge and experience, whether it be in matters of strategy, honing her skills with the blade or expanding her knowledge and abilities with animancy.
~ She appreciates honor, loyalty and integrity, and respects those who show concern for the lives of others.


Dislikes:
~ Due to her more asocial nature, she generally is not very comfortable with politicking, though it is less so that she dislikes it and more so that it is not her strong suit. She hates politics with a passion, believing it an utterly foolish waste of time that feeds into worldly ambitions and breeds discontent and bloodshed.
~ Going hand in hand with her ideals of honor, she has a strong distaste for treachery in general. She sees politics and treachery as one and the same. An utterly foolish waste of time and blood.

~ Positioning herself as a protector of the people first, Kitrana abhors tyranny and the needlessly cruel.

Strengths:
~ In a certain sense, Kitrana is an idealistic person. She is altruistic in all of her aspirations, and she is relatively optimistic in terms of trying to see the good and the strengths in everyone around her. But this is balanced by a certain pragmatic realism in dealing with most situations. She has become disillusioned with the concept of idealism. She wishes for the best from everyone around her, but expects the worst.
~ Kitrana is firmly loyal, and to break an oath or betray an ally is something that would not come easily to her. If it was truly necessary, though...

Weaknesses:
~ Partly due to past experience and partly due to the curse associated with animancy, Kitrana perceives emotion in a way that is very different from others. She is jaded and often seems emotionally detached from others, not reacting necessarily in a way that seems appropriate. She has become emotionally detached from almost everyone around her except the few she holds deeply close. She largely lacks a sense of deep empathy in the traditional sense, but will react in ways that are sometimes abnormal as she directly feels the emotions of others. It is all a part of the ebb and flow of the world around her, now.

~ She can at times come off as very proud, not taking well to humiliation and belittlement.

Fears:
~ There is a fear that she could lose herself and become entirely emotionally detached from the world around her.

~ She holds herself to a very high standard, and as such she fears even the smallest failure.

Values:
~ Knowledge. The keys to guarding the realm lie in knowing how to face any threat.
~ She respects strength, loyalty and honor, and care for the people, judging people by their merits while not being overly fond of people who lack temperament and show a quick tendency towards violence and rash decisions. She has become disillusioned with such traditional concepts as honor. 'Honor' exists to be broken and cause issues.
Strength is not worthy of respect if it is not used wisely, and there are many who misuse it. Loyalty in moderation is good, but it can easily become blinding and induce arrogance.
~ Before anything else, she values the good of the people. She will sacrifice anything including her own life to serve the needs of the many. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Always.

Education: She was taught to think strategically and to be observant. She does not have a formal education in lore, but has obtained a large quantity of knowledge during her time on Altera, including more secretive knowledge such as the nature of animancy.

Languages:
~ Common (native tongue)
~ Elven (fluent)
~ Aurion (fluent - on the legacy character list
here)
~ Rede (fluent)


General Attitude: Depending on the day, she ranges from being calm and neutral, to tired and melancholy to varying degrees, and occasionally, especially irritable and exhausted. On the latter days, if there is business she must tend to or if she finds herself out and about for whatever reason, she is rather moody and seeks distractions and ways to be engaged, rather than her normal calm, passive attitude. Kitrana appears constantly weary and melancholic. On good days, she can be found to be relatively approachable and tolerant, but on bad days she is utterly without patience for any perceived foolishness and does not linger anywhere than she needs to be, moving about with hurried purpose.

Religious Inclination: Kitrana does not wholly devote herself to the gods anymore. She has come to accept the idea that it is only through the efforts of mortals that the realm is protected now, and as such she does not see the gods as worthy of her full devotion when she can do more to help the Alterans with her current power. However, she still holds varying opinions of the gods.


~ Valiant: Respected and honored. The deity which Kitrana is most dedicated to, especially through Uriel's order. Through the events of the battle around Archon, Valiant has solidified in Kitrana's mind the fact that he stands out amongst the pantheon as worthy of respect, as when the rest of them stood neutral or against Archon, Valiant let his people make the decision, and stood by them. Of course he will never embrace the Arcane. Kitrana sees the day coming when she will have to let go of even the most superficial commitment to Valiant, as her own moral compass and ideals continue to drift further and further from his doctrine.
~ The Grey Lady: Feared. Kitrana internally fears that due to her choice to support Archon, and his subsequent failure to change the manner of judgment, she has only assured that her soul is condemned. As she has become more detached from the finality of death, so too as Kitrana lost her fear of the Grey Lady. Now, she simply views the god of judgment with indifference, if not some level of disdain.
~ Ignis: Cautious, curious. Kitrana has never held worshipers of Ignis in high regard due to her strong revulsion from those who believe in inherent right to power and nobility, but she does not hate her and her worshipers so vehemently as she used to, thanks to the actions of some of her followers she has witnessed. She sees more nuance there than she used to. Too black and white, too zealous and naive. Ignis's power can be useful as the antithesis to Jishrim, but Kitrana holds no respect for the goddess who inspires more blind devotion than any other.
~ Jax: Indifferent. Kitrana sees the worship of Jax as an excuse to behave recklessly, and sees little value beyond shallow vanity in what he represents. He has done even less than many of the other gods to aid in the situation of the mortal realm, and for this she believes him completely unworthy of respect.
~ Visage: Hatred, but curious. Honor compels Kitrana not to consider Visage as one worthy of worship. He stole Silas's position, and for this she will never respect him. However, the darker, more radical part of Kitrana's mentality accepts that at times, the ways of one such as Visage may be of use for the greater good. Kitrana may lack the same sense of firm honor that she used to hold, but she likewise has come to lose any form of curiosity towards Visage, especially with her having been pushed more into the realm of what Silas before him stood for.
~ Shalherana: Worthy of respect as the bringer of life, but Kitrana regards her followers as naive in some regards.
~ Theodra: Worthy of respect as natural order. Kitrana has never been drawn to Theodra or her doctrine, but holds respect for what she represents and those who devote themselves to her.
~ Korog: Indifferent. Kitrana has encountered fewer followers of Korog than perhaps any other deity. She likes the aspects of permanence and perfection which he represents, but she cannot in good conscience show respect to one who represents neutrality in a world such as this. She regards this as akin to being apathetic and self-centered.
~ Sallana: Indifferent. There are aspects of Sallana which Kitrana likes, but she finds the general worldview held by her followers to be far too naive.
~ Jishrim: Hatred. Jishrim stands for everything which Kitrana opposes, his followers unworthy of trust and, she considers, more unpredictable than those of Visage. Where Visage's followers can be counted on to act in their own interests, the worshipers of Jishrim sometimes show no such inclination to self-preservation. In this way, Kitrana considers Jishrim and his followers to be the most dangerous of divine enemies.
~ Skraag: Vehement hatred. After everything Skraag has done to interfere in the world, tearing away Kitrana's homeland from her and thousands of Alterans, she feels nothing but violent hatred for him and any who would be foolish enough to follow him.


General Intelligence: Observant, strategy-minded

General Sociability: Not very approachable or good at small talk


Alignment: Neutral Good

Short Term Goals:
~ Develop Mornholm
~ Take time to herself


Long Term Goals:
~ Start construction of Blackrush Rising
~ Leo
~ Fulfill her pact to Elizabeth
~ Animancy progress
~ Help Raal expand the Blackrush region
~ Serve the realm




Samwych





<POSSESSIONS>

Wardrobe:
~ Light leather armor with chainmail and a blue cloth shirt on her torso. (Travel attire)

~ A dark dress with gold on the sash, worn with a short purple shawl over the shoulders. (Warm weather formalwear)
~ A long, warm deep blue dress with gold trim. A black shoulder-cloak of raven feathers is adorned over this, and a dark green, iridescent dragon scale is displayed upon the clasp. Her rapier is worn along with this ceremonially. (Cold weather formal-wear)

Jewelry:
~ A ring that bears a sapphire and an emerald upon it. She always wears this either on her ring finger on her left hand, or on a chain around her neck, depending on her attire.
~ An iron brooch clasping a dark green, iridescent scale from the Blight Dragon. She uses this frequently when wearing her cloak.

Pets/Animals: None

Owned Homes:
~ House in Linlea
~ House in Astrum
~ House in Queensport
~ House in Blackrush Crossing


Carried Inventory:
~ Enough coin to get by on
~ Sword
~ Dirk
~ A pouch used to hold various materials for conduction animancy rituals
~ Various totems, slotted on her belts or worn on her person

General Inventory:
~
More stockpiled basic materials, mainly for animancy practices


General Wealth: She has amassed a fairly sizeable amount of wealth.





<HEALTH>

Illnesses:
None

Allergies: None


Injuries: None

Sleeping Habits: Her sleep is, to varying degrees, disrupted by the disturbances associated with her knack Her sleep is frequently interrupted by nightmares.

Energy Levels: Tired


Eating Habits: Average

Exercise Habits: Daily

Memory: Decent


Unhealthy Habits: Drinks perhaps a bit more than she should

Drinking Habits: Drinks whiskey regularly, though generally not to the point of drunkenness





<HISTORY>

From the start of her activity to present:
~ Arrival at the Landing. Meeting Cassian, Andre and Ayda.
~ Finding Laisa.
~ Slyannen. Commander and Judge.
~ Conflict. Meeting Leo. Disliking Leo.
~ Liking Leo.
~ Division in Slyannen. Cassian and Ayda's departure.
~ Falling in love with Leo.
~ Duelling Maceo. Death.
~ Death of Rahas. Despair. Leaving Slyannen.
~ Lingering. Searching for purpose. Engagement to Leo.
~ Ashen Blight. Compendium. Encounters with Kane.
~ Distrust and suspicion. Evacuation to Linlea.
~ Pushed to the brink. Conflict. Recklessness.
~ Finding faith in Valiant. Raalvara.
~ Qlippoth defeated.
~ Sworn to Varyn. Helping Raal.
~ Seeking eviscism. Approaching Jaden.
~ Marriage to Leo. A promise of land.
~ Starfall. Raal's disappearance. Countess.
~ Quiet. Tension with Uriel.
~ An offer from Elizabeth rescinded.
~ Archon. Another offer. Animancy.
~ Raalvara returns. The Planar breaks. Stasis.
~ A test. Growing in power.
~ Siding with Archon. Lines drawn. The Sons.
~ Peace among gods and Archon. Strange.
~ Blackrush. Kilrox raiders. Conflict with James.

~ The duel. Drifting away. Jishrim's Heart. Isolation.

Past Places of Residences:
~ Arget Isles

~ The Crossroads
~ Vinterhavn
~ Storm's Landing
~ Slyannen


Other Places Traveled:
~Thorne

~ Eastwatch
~ Astrakhan
~ Azerport
~ The Compendium
~ The Rift
~ Mockingbay

~ Sanardu





<COMBAT>

Peaceful or violent:
Violent when necessary


Weaponry:
~ A high quality Elven blade, bearing significant enchantments on it. Her primary weapon.
~ An average quality iron dirk, two-edged, 12-inch blade. Her sidearm, she keeps this sheathed on her left side in front of and slightly higher than her arming sword.

~ A rapier, 2.2 lbs, 41-inch blade. A pendant of the Rahas symbol is wrapped around the crossguard. She only carries this when she's wearing her formal attire, and generally does not use it in combat.
90306
~ A very well-made 2.8-lb, 36-inch-blade bastard sword bearing the Rahas Symbol and the crest of Marr.
She keeps it on display at her home in Blackrush Crossing, as it has become worn with time.

Combat Training: She has trained with the shortsword and bastard sword to proficiency. She regularly practices and seeks sparring partners to keep up her skills.

Apprentice: Kyri (Yuki_The_Witch. )






<TRAINING & SKILLS>

Medical:
Very basic knowledge

Singing: Fairly practiced. Her singing voice sounds roughly like this.

Dancing: Being a proficient fighter, she has a natural affinity for dancing's footwork and positioning. She also enjoys it quite a lot.



<ANIMANCY>

Rank:
Journeyman

Teacher: Elizabeth Kane

Spell Points: 50

Current Status: Active student and practitioner

{Link to full arcane profile
}





<OTHER TRIVIA>

Occupation: (Future) Baroness of Mornholm

Favorite Types of Food: She enjoys gamey meat like venison and reindeer

Favorite Types of Drink: Tea Whiskey

Hobbies/Pastimes: Kitrana enjoys things that engage her mind and her body, whether it be training, planning, practicing or learning. As such, she greatly enjoys seeking lessons from Elizabeth as well as seeking sparring partners to practice her swordsmanship against. She also enjoys lingering in groups as a passive observer, though on the rougher days she is more actively seeking entertainment as a distraction when she is out and about.

Favorite Colors: Purple, blue and blue-grey





<RELATIONSHIPS>

Relevant Family Members:

~ Leofaren Venna-Dawnriver, her husband- Kitrana loves Leo more than anything, a sentiment which she knows he returns. She feels they have been apart from each other far too much, and he serves as her emotional anchor. She fears losing him more than anything else. She wants to make an effort to be with him more and return to spending time with him like they used to in Arget what feels like so long ago. (Shankster )

~ Laisa Dawnriver, adopted daughter- Kitrana has moved on from her previous guilt, and she is proud of her adopted daughter. She regrets remaining somewhat distant, and once things calm down more she hopes to visit her more. (Samiwashere )

Romantic Interests:

Taken

Trusted Friends:
~ Raalvara Varyn- Her liege, but she is more akin to a sister. Kitrana sees her as an equal, although she is not in title. Kitrana holds a strange uncertainty towards her as of late. She has felt a growing, silent rift in their relationship that she cannot explain. Beyond that, she also feels that with time, their destinies are destined to lead apart from each other. For the time being, however, she chooses to stay by Raal's side as long as it suits her. She just hopes Raal knows that she can trust Kitrana. (Raal )
~ Elizabeth Kane- Kitrana has come to greatly enjoy talking with Elizabeth, finding her refreshing to converse with and looking forward to every one of their meetings. She only wishes Elizabeth did not see her as such a blind follower in regards to Raalvara still. Kitrana has thought heavily on her words, more than she openly admits. (NIAH )
~ Ayda- A sister to Kitrana nearly as close as Raalvara, the two have largely moved on from a rocky past, due in no small part to Kitrana's vastly changed temperament. Kitrana would trust Ayda with her life without hesitation.
(Ayda )
~ Cassian- This man was among the first people Kit met when she made it to Storm's Landing. Kitrana does not entirely approve of Cassian's underhanded and manipulative nature even now, and there has been times where his actions have earned her scorn and disdain. But with time, Kitrana has come to regard him as among her extended family, especially as he treats Leofaren as a brother. She even admits privately that at times she would find his skills useful to her, and would ask for his help in this regard if she ever deems it necessary. (Baron2537 )

Friendly With:
~ Fronslin- An elf that Kitrana has been acquainted with for a very long time. She has never gotten to the level of fully trusting him, but she enjoys his company well enough and believes his heart is in the right place. When turned in the right direction, he is a powerful and capable ally. (Fronslin )
~ Jorvun- A shepherd who has been around Blackrush for a long time, and now recently has taken up the blade and is a protege under Raalvara. Kitrana sees Jorvun is a good man and hopes he continues to grow in his ability and intelligence. (GhostKairo123 )
~ Rowley- One of Raalvara's proteges. The boy can be foolish but is eager to prove himself to Valiant, and Kitrana hopes he succeeds. (Philipe )
~ Wolfgang von Harrister- Possibly the most respectable man to come out of the Kane court, Kitrana respects Wolfgang and his judgment, and sees him as a soul who has a genuine desire to do what is right. (Rygan )
~ Jaden Seeker- Kitrana has not directly interacted with Jaden much, but she continues to see him as powerful, and someone who does his best to use that power in a way that is beneficial to the world. She hopes that at some point they have more opportunity to talk. (CloakedReaper )
~ Raeyna- A friendly woman with a restless soul. Kitrana enjoys Raeyna's company and believes she is quite intelligent, as well as useful as a medic. She has had a tendency to bring conflict with her, however, and her recent behavior during the interrogation of Heseya displeased Kitrana. (DizPanda )
~ Kyri- Kitrana's occasional apprentice in swordsmanship. She feels guilt for having been distant from him for so long and not being there for him in the midst of the horrible things he has been through. She wishes to support him and wants him to be the best that he can be, but at the same time, she frustratingly sees that he has not lost his impulsive and confrontational attitude. (Yuki_The_Witch. )
~ Kopii- They do not speak often, but Kitrana has with time learned to move on from the past and has come to appreciate Kopii's company more. She enjoys conversing with him and views him as a valuable ally and a friend, even if she remains wary of his impulsiveness. (Omikuji )


Loose Acquaintances:
~ Sofia- Rowley's apprentice. Kitrana has yet to speak with her much, but she seems committed and serious. Time will tell where her path leads. (DizPanda )
~ Wilhelm Schmidt- Sometimes friendly, and sometimes overly proud and full of himself. Nonetheless, he is a competent blade to have around Blackrush and has proven himself useful. (Omen13 )

Complicated:
~ James Varyn- Kitrana has yet to speak to the new James. She does not know what to think of his state, and wonders if he can even still be considered the same person as he is. (TheDeester )
~ Sigmund von Hallon- Since the duel, they have not interacted. Kitrana does not know what Sigmund thinks of her, and she likewise no longer knows what to think of him. Every time she interacts with him seems to be a different experience. (Scardrac )
~ Uriel- Raalvara's former student, and Valiant's blessed. His recent actions have placed him in a bad light in Kitrana's mind. After what they've fought through together, she wants to still respect him, but the way he has behaved since the Kilrox raiders have begun their attacks has done nothing but earn her scorn. (BoredBrit )


Disfavored Individuals:
~ Asher Varyn- A foolish, arrogant boy who is too eager to prove himself to others, at the sacrifice of his moral high ground. Kitrana regards both him and James as foolish for going into that duel, and she has no desire or intent to speak with him again beyond absolute necessity. (blargtheawesome )
~ Podric- Hearing about his recent trek to Blackrush has done nothing for her previous expectations that he may change. She had begun to see him as more temperate and mild, but with his words towards Raal and his move to take valuable defenders away from the village her disdain for the Ignis-blessed is rapidly growing once again. But she will hear his side of things sooner or later, she expects. (Luam )

~ Asero- Kitrana has spoken to Asero and seen him enough to hold some level of disdain for him. More than anything, she simply regards him to be arrogant, self-centered and something of an oaf. She does not think that he should be with Laisa, but she has decided to hold her tongue and let them be, at least unless Asero does something truly idiotic which hurts Laisa. For now, she is simply glad that he makes Laisa happy. (Electric )

Hated:
--

Wary Of:
"You must be pretty intimidating if you make it here."


Missed:
 

Attachments

Last edited:

French Roast

Lord of Altera
Pronouns
She/Her
French_Roast
French_Roast
Claim 3/3

This is a rework of an older character of mine, I'm bringing her back. She's officially active but I may not actually start playing her until winter break, we'll see
 

Spirit

Lord of Altera
Legend
Pronouns
He/Him
PudsNull
PudsNull
Legend
Kitrana? More like...

KIT-TANA! HAHAHA HAHA I'M SO FUNNY!
 

French Roast

Lord of Altera
Pronouns
She/Her
French_Roast
French_Roast
updated, added the relations I can remember, boop me if I'm forgetting and you want one.
 

Fronslin

Based on what?
Retired Staff
Fronslin
Fronslin
Good
I'd like to point out that Fronslin doesn't really adhere to any particular divine, he sees himself more as a servant to them, and wants them to remain where they are in their slots in the pantheon. He does have some dislikes though.


I didn't really have the words to explain this until now.
 

French Roast

Lord of Altera
Pronouns
She/Her
French_Roast
French_Roast
I'd like to point out that Fronslin doesn't really adhere to any particular divine, he sees himself more as a servant to them, and wants them to remain where they are in their slots in the pantheon. He does have some dislikes though.


I didn't really have the words to explain this until now.
ah. She still thinks of him as somewhat a follower of Rahas, just because of his positive comments about him.
 

French Roast

Lord of Altera
Pronouns
She/Her
French_Roast
French_Roast
Did some updates and this is a good time to do some writing.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rain danced on the roof of the inn above Kitrana softly. She sat on the foot of her bed, her chainmail removed and laying on the small table in the corner of the cramped room. Her longsword, the one that Tybalt had given her what felt like an eternity ago, was unsheathed and resting across her knee as she slowly, methodically ran the whetstone along the blade. A million thoughts were spinning around in her head. Laisa, Andre, Cassian, the opium gang- too much.

She shifted her gaze up towards the corner of the room. Next to the table, turned facing the wall, was the chair which Kitrana had made into a makeshift crib. Cradled in cloth and hidden from view, the infant girl was sleeping soundly. Laisa. The girl that someone less fortunate than her had abandoned at a shrine in the graveyard, likely because they could barely even feed themselves without a child to care for. Only now was it sinking in what this meant. She had never even considered having children before now, she had too much to do. The endless work. And yet this girl was a part of the endless work. Every bone in her body, every fiber of her being, her head and her heart screamed at her to care for the child and do everything she could to protect her. There was no other option. She could not entrust anyone else with her, not completely. The child was now, as far as she or anyone else was concerned, hers. Laisa Dawnriver.

And yet it terrified her. More than when she had fought a bear. More than when her order attacked and struck down the tyrant who killed her parents. More than any threat of what the drug dealers could do to her, the thought of doing wrong by this child terrified her. More than ever in her mind, there was no room for error, and yet she knew so little about this sort of thing. She also realized what this meant for her. If she was going to raise this child then she had to take care of herself as well, more than she had before. She could not become selfish and stop helping others, but she had to live. For her, she had to survive and be strong. The opium ring had killed Tavia, and threatened the people of the Landing, but if she was to care for Laisa then she could not fight the ring as much as she wanted to. She had to make a choice between her involvement in Laisa's upbringing and her dedication to fighting off the oppressors of the people of Storm's Landing.

And then there was Andre. Persistent, determined Andre. What was she supposed to tell him? She wasn't interested before and she was twice as uninterested now - things had become complicated enough without her trying to work with a romantic interest. She needed more space from him. She could not spare his feelings over her own need for space and independence. She would have to tell him how she felt and it was as simple as that.

She sighed tiredly, looking back down to the sword. She set aside the whetstone, taking a cloth and wiping down the blade carefully, then sliding it back into its sheath and setting it carefully beside the bed. She laid back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

For the first time in her life, she had to choose between the one and the many.

(Kamaoe )
 
Last edited:

Kamaoe

The Green One
Legend
Kamaoe
Kamaoe
Legend
Did some updates and this is a good time to do some writing.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rain danced on the roof of the inn above Kitrana softly. She sat on the foot of her bed, her chainmail removed and laying on the small table in the corner of the cramped room. Her longsword, the one that Tybalt had given her what felt like an eternity ago, was unsheathed and resting across her knee as she slowly, methodically ran the whetstone along the blade. A million thoughts were spinning around in her head. Laisa, Andre, Cassian, the opium gang- too much.

She shifted her gaze up towards the corner of the room. Next to the table, turned facing the wall, was the chair which Kitrana had made into a makeshift crib. Cradled in cloth and hidden from view, the infant girl was sleeping soundly. Laisa. The girl that someone less fortunate than her had abandoned at a shrine in the graveyard, likely because they could barely even feed themselves without a child to care for. Only now was it sinking in what this meant. She had never even considered having children before now, she had too much to do. The endless work. And yet this girl was a part of the endless work. Every bone in her body, every fiber of her being, her head and her heart screamed at her to care for the child and do everything she could to protect her. There was no other option. She could not entrust anyone else with her, not completely. The child was now, as far as she or anyone else was concerned, hers. Laisa Dawnriver.

And yet it terrified her. More than when she had fought a bear. More than when her order attacked and struck down the tyrant who killed her parents. More than any threat of what the drug dealers could do to her, the thought of doing wrong by this child terrified her. More than ever in her mind, there was no room for error, and yet she knew so little about this sort of thing. She also realized what this meant for her. If she was going to raise this child then she had to take care of herself as well, more than she had before. She could not become selfish and stop helping others, but she had to live. For her, she had to survive and be strong. The opium ring had killed Tavia, and threatened the people of the Landing, but if she was to care for Laisa then she could not fight the ring as much as she wanted to. She had to make a choice between her involvement in Laisa's upbringing and her dedication to fighting off the oppressors of the people of Storm's Landing.

And then there was Andre. Persistent, determined Andre. What was she supposed to tell him? She wasn't interested before and she was twice as uninterested now - things had become complicated enough without her trying to work with a romantic interest. She needed more space from him. She could not spare his feelings over her own need for space and independence. She would have to tell him how she felt and it was as simple as that.

She sighed tiredly, looking back down to the sword. She set aside the whetstone, taking a cloth and wiping down the blade carefully, then sliding it back into its sheath and setting it carefully beside the bed. She laid back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

For the first time in her life, she had to choose between the one and the many.

(Kamaoe )
That's some good writing. ;v;
 
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