Ella Berdontte {English}

Dance, dance... Why dancing is the oldest of arts! I can show my feelings so clearly through it. It creates a whirlwind of feelings for the onlookers too, so why not use it to spread love.

— Ella Berdontte

Few beyond Astria has ever heard of Ella Berdontte. She was, however, quite the spellbinding woman when she moved around on her stage.

Ella was a poor, young woman that had a particulate appearance; small and slender, quite petit as they would say in Nilaminra. Her skills at moving around with the faintest steps and being almost unheard like the movement of the wind did contribute to her being discovered by a Nilaminran priest named Tyrien Nomier. He had seen her move around the fields in her home village and later that evening, seeing her talent for movement and grace even for a poor village girl with no parents.

Ashen Dancess

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He had been warned about her, however. She was a particular girl and it showed as he started to train her. Always black and grey, no colourful dress or clothes that would make her stick out. She would be allowed to pray two times a day, morning or afternoon and night alone and lastly, she wanted to dance with expression. That was what she was going to do and so their partnership began. As time passed, Ella and Tyrien began with small performances with Ella dancing and Tyrien playing various instruments from the lute to sets of drums. They travelled from Ella's home in the northwest towards Astria and met with nobles, priests and crowds.

This would lead in turn to that they performed even in churches and courts with other dancers. Some of the dancers would comment on Ella's dance, how she held herself so firmly and with such allure. She was enchanting for even the dancers themselves as they performed. What they did not like about her was her secrecy as she did not like small talk beyond the balls and after performances. She preferred her alone-time.

What most struck odd with her was the long prayer time in the evenings and nights when she was not to be disturbed. Tyrien wanted her one time to make a nightly performance in the shine of the full moon but she was harsh as she refused to participate. It was said that she spat and firmly said no to him before slamming the door in his face. For one person to do that to a priest of Nilari was remarkable. He respected her, however, by that time they had been performing together for five years after all.

Their fame had spread to The Nini herself in 2536, seven years after their first meeting. By handwritten invitation from the old leader of Nilaminra, they were asked to perform in the Peace-Leaf Church of Nilari. The Nini wanted to see this dancing herself, witness how enchanting it really was. Tyrien was very eager and happy for this display since he had never been to the capital, much less even met The Nini and her priestesses. Ella showed little emotion about it.

The day of their performance, however, would not come.

Black Dancess

A week before their performance for The Nini, horrifying news spread in the capital province. A noble family had been murdered not far from Astria itself. The six of them, two men, one woman and three children, had travelled to see Ella Berdontte and Tyrien Nomier's performance in the town of Deulile. When they had arrived and taken hospitality with the priestess of the town, they had met Ella just before. One hour later, they were all dead, killed in a battle-like scene that left no one alive, not even their five guards.

When servants went to tell Ella and Tyrien about the horrific murder, they found Tyrien dead in his room, his throat slashed. Ella was not in her room at all. She became the prime suspect and hunted the rest of the day until she was found by a mob that had formed in the town. Not long after, she was found inside a small shrine outside of town where she was killed for the horrifying crime against the nobles, guards and especially their children. No one knows what prompted such ruthlessness in an otherwise smiling and happy woman who danced to make others love and feel.

Age

25

Date of Birth

2511

Date of Death

2536?

Death of a Petal

Why she did the deed of murder is only rumoured or suspected. Since no official inquiry into her past or into her at all has been made there are many thoughts floating around from madness to evil forces and mages. What does not help is the fact that the deed was done in the middle of Morierm, a month known for its relation to Krakros' and Orios' nature of death and remembrance. Some wild rumours are that Ella was in fact using Tyrien to escape something that fought up to her, a dark mage or some other evil deed that came with the nobles. Others relate to the fact that Ella was distant and already, and always, was planning something of the like and that the nobles became the target. Some point to that Tyrien might have been evil and made Ella kill others where they travelled since he, after all, trained her. The most interesting and widespread idea is that she always was an assassin for a secret group that waited for the right people to show up and to be killed.

There is also a very uncertainty surrounding Ella's death at the hands of the mob. Ella was beaten beyond recognition and also burned "to cleanse the evil" she was after the deed. No one can be sure that it was actually she who died and that fact remains that she killed five guards and two full-grown men with weapons in hand without any wounds of her own.

But with the witnesses of 30 people, how can they be wrong?

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