Lia ot’Marota Vayla Ravenspeaker (Lee-ah ot-mar-otah Vay-lah)
Lia ot’Marota, Vayla Ravenspeaker
There are rangers, scouts, and many skilled misakuwo… but only the Ravenspeaker moves with the very shadow or wind.
A silent hunter. One with the wind. She’s the watchful eyes from the shadows of the glade and grasslands, keeping them safe.
Even as a child, Lia was known as the “watchful one” or the “quiet one”. She could hear the slightest shift in the wind that suggested a storm, or see the tracks of a snake across a bare rock. It’s these natural talents that helped her become the misakuwo of the Kwi’Sakdi Company.
As the misakuwo for the Kwi’Sakdi, Lia works with the group as their scout and tracker. When the company sets an ambush, she is the one who is the hidden threat from the leaves. Only a few, like the Kwi’Sakdi leader, Kavi ot’Maninga Sukir Arroweye, can come close to matching her in woodcraft. When it’s needed, she speaks with her beloved ravens to send or learn the latest news from the area.
A Friend of the Green
Lia, like any misakuwo, is in tune with nature and the surrounding environment. She believes in the Cycle of Spirits like any Orisnuc, but feels closer to the Spirit Winds and their elemental spirits.
Often, Lia will converse with them in quiet moments as her way to ‘commune’ or meditate on nature and ‘The Green’. Through that, she meditates to regain the mana for her spell casting when necessary.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Lia is in top condition. Average height, she’s thinner than the other members of the Kwi’Sakdi. But this gives her an advantage when running or darting between shadows.
Most of Lia’s conditioning comes from endurance and weapons training. These are her regular exercise, as is trick shooting. The latter, while not always that combat effective, helps with keeping her limber. Lia’s favorite stunt is, while in a handstand, to brace her bow with one foot while she draws and fires an arrow using the toes of her other foot.
It’s when she does that while riding that it’s really impressive.
Special abilities
Misakuwo have a wide arsenal of crafts, spells, and gifts granted them by Nature itself through the mystical ‘Green’. The most remarkable, and the one Lia is known best for, is their ability to speak with a type of animal species. For Lia, that would be ravens.
Even before she took up the path of a misakuwo, Lia had an affinity with ravens. As she got older, she grew to ‘understand’ them through their body language and general squawks. She would give them occasional gifts, or snacks; they brought her herbs, a coin, or other items in trade.
Now, as a misakuwo with a bond with ravens, she literally talks to them directly. Sometimes this is to ask for a favor, like delivering a message, while other times it’s finding out if the ravens have heard any news. Lia will also just chat with them to pass the time, but often away from the rest of the Kwi'Sakdi.
Apparel & Accessories
Lia wears the typical Orisnuc style of clothing. Wool trousers, linen shirts and the calf-length, wrap around waist coat called a ‘masudit’. Sturdy boots with leather spats to cover her lower legs complete her regular outfit. Both are kept well fastened to remain in place while she's working.
But she skips the beads and other decor on the shirt or other parts of her clothing. Lia’s focus as a misakuwo is to fade into the shadows or blend into the forest background. Colorful bead-work doesn’t always help her with that.
One constant of her wardrobe is her Raven-Leaf Cloak. This prized possession was a gift to her from her mentor. The dark cloak is made of raven feathers and leaves preserved to prevent decay. They are sewn on a charcoal wool cloth that is treated against the weather.
The result? A cloak that helps a wearer appear to melt into the shadows or poorly lighted environments. It’s especially useful for a misakuwo when they are working. For Lia, it holds an even deeper significance because her beloved ravens donated spare feathers for her cloak.
Mental characteristics
Mental Trauma
Lia, of all the Kwi’Sakdi, has perhaps the rockiest past of all. Before she was born, the raids between the Orisnuc tribes and the Angesh Empire were at their worst. The Angesh forces wiped out entire jupeta, the Orisnuc extended ‘tribes’, in the thirst for territory and control.
Her father was one of the few survivors.
A trained hunter, he turned master assassin. For years, he was the terror of the Angesh Imperial forces. Eventually, he settled down with a new family. But the tragedy he lived through never left him. Driven to protect the Orisnuc people because of his tragedy, he trained his daughter Lia as an assassin. Hours, days, weeks of hard work and drills, the young girl learned the ways of stealth and subterfuge.
But her innate nature was drawn to her childhood friends, nature, and her beloved ravens. In the end, the training didn’t quite stick with the young girl. Instead, her father’s influence made her more reserved, more watchful. She was less prone to speak, more to act. Sometimes with painful results.
This made her a loner, if not a slight outcast from other children her age. Confused and hurt, Lia never quite understood why she was ostracized by other children. But she wasn’t entirely alone. A small group of childhood friends, who as adults are the members of the Kwi’Sakdi company, remained by her side. They helped ground Lia, and stave off what could have been devastating mental trauma.
But some lessons from her father stuck, such as protecting and preserving life. Assassin training is now blended with the misakuwo disciplines, with her father’s obsessive need to guard and protect lingers in the back of her mind. That has caused her to take more deadly risks than necessary, for an unspoken need to prove herself.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
To preserve life. The assassin’s training, combined with her father’s obsession, evolved into a fierce determination to preserve life when possible. Lia’s misakuwo training also strengthened this motivation. It shines the most clearly when she needs to help, or protect, the members of the Kwi’Sakdi company; which are her ‘found siblings’.
Personality Quirks
Lia can be a quiet person. The lack of speaking, or speaking in short phrases, often leads to a mistaken perception she doesn’t have a good grasp of languages. This isn’t true.
In fact, Lia is fluent in her own native language of Noru, the Common trade dialect and more. Because of events in her childhood, she is more comfortable with non-verbal communication, such as nodding, sign language, or even sparring to conduct an extended ‘conversation’.
When you get her going, she’s real chatty!
Moments when she has to talk for an extended length of time eventually make her uncomfortable. She may talk too much, then ramble on until she stumbles her way to a conclusion. Other times, embarrassment sets in, and she tries to finish what she says with sign language or ‘writing’ it in Tempeh, the Orisnuc knot tying language. Afterwards often comes a moment of fidgeting or a stammered apology.
Social
Contacts & Relations
On the Kwi’Sakdi
Lia has a jupeta she grew up in, but the actions of her father put some uncomfortable distance between her and her blood siblings. To Lia, the Kwi’Sakdi are as much her brothers and sisters as anyone from her own bloodline. She cares for them one and all, even if sometimes she has an unusual, if not ‘raven-like’, way of showing that.
On Chaliimriia Goiki
Chaliimriia is a newcomer to the Kwi’Sakdi from Lia’s point of view. The moment Lia first met Chaliimriia, the elven priestess fascinated her. Lia, as is her way, thinks deeply on her topics, then brings up questions at unexpected moments. This has happened more than once with Lia’s interaction with Chaliimriia Goiki. Sometimes confusing both women.
Lia is eager to learn about Chaliimriia’s culture, the Samakarii, and views Chaliimriia as a vast storehouse of knowledge. So far, she doesn’t consider Chaliimriia a ‘sibling’ but a fascinating, acquaintance. Lia would like to befriend Chaliimriia, but is stumbling over her attempts to do so.
Species
Ethnicity
Date of Birth
13 Ziorst 546 ILC
Year of Birth
546
32 Years old
Children
Pronouns
She/Her
Gender
female
Eyes
gray-blue
Hair
Medium length, straight black hair
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Smooth green skin
Height
6'1"
Weight
180 lbs
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
Related Plots
Lia by Hruthgar
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