Sharkas of Parakos

Lady Sharkas (a.k.a. Onetooth)

Lady Sharkas (previously Onetooth), like all lords and ladies of Parakos, was once a commoner. The Elective House of Daemonwing works by hosting elections while the current lord is on his deathbed, or in the cases of sudden deaths, during a tenure where the Wisdom of Parakos acts as the interim lord/lady. Anyone who was born in the city from the richest merchant to the lowliest bricklayer could place themselves as a potential candidate, and such was the case with Sharkas.
As a young woman, she was known as Onetooth, due to a childhood injury which chipped one of her tusks. Always a bookworm by nature, she got a job as a librarian's assistant in the Hall of Words, the oldest known library in Arkhera. There, she would meet all manner of intrigued historians, native and foreign alike, assist them in finding old, controversial historical documents from a time when the only written language of the land was Old Orcish. Her dedication to the role and overall learnedness led her to, over many years, become the head librarian of the Hall of Words.
It was as a head librarian in her thirties that she would meet Bricklayer, a similarly-aged construction worker who seemed almost embarrassed to be visiting her library. When she asked him why he was uncomfortable, he explained that his fellow builders would never let him forget such a visit if they knew, and Onetooth assuredly told him that coworkers or not, somebody who would mock a man for training their mind as much as a builder trains their body weren't a friend worth having. Bricklayer would admit he was only passingly able to read the Common Tongue, while Old Orcish was nothing but harsh lines to him.
As such, Onetooth would spend an entire evening walking him through the inconsistent nuances of written Common, while starting him on the runic alphabet of Old Orcish. Bricklayer would eventually take to visiting Onetooth every day, which steadily led to the two falling in love and marrying. Bricklayer would retire from construction and work as a librarian's assistant in the Hall of Words; after all, with such a well-paid wife, he could afford to restart his career in something a little easier on his body.
The pair would have a two sons, the unsure and fretting Squinteye and the brash, confident Skillflex who seemed to inherit his father's strength but none of his brains. As Onetooth's life slowed down moving into her fifties, she would grow a mite dissatisfied with 'simply' working for a library of historical significance, and would begin courting the favour of the wisdom of the time, Wisdom Vardyn, a pudgy high elven man who was in love with Yukishima. She would make herself helpful and indispensable whenever he had queries regarding conflicting historical sources and discussions on political precedents, eventually leading to the wisdom suggesting that with Lord Azakkis of Parakos on his last legs, that she should put her name forward for election.
Onetooth happily took the 'advice' she'd already been long planting into the wisdom's head, and ran for ladyship of Parakos against Manson, a rich architect whose father was an architect and his father's father, so on and so forth, and an exceedingly arrogant, but financially savvy gnome called Wick, whose entire platform was based on leading Parakos to economic prosperity by seizing Sandport from Sandspark control. Onetooth's own platform was one of ensuring a strong military that, rather than being deployed on official allies for politically disastrous temporary gains, will act as a deterrent to war, not a guarantee of it. She made a show of connecting to injured veterans of numerous wars with tribal communities, and ultimately, the military vote, along with the civilian vote, skewed significantly towards Onetooth.
When she won, she was open-handed with her opponents, who she openly respected the political positions of even as they attempted to smear her character and gender. She offered Manson a position on the building council, which he stubbornly refused, yet Wick took the bait and was appointed Trademaster. Onetooth was clear in her intent for anyone politically savvy; she intended to mollify and keep an eye on her former enemies.
Following her ascension to lady, Onetooth renamed herself to an Old Orcish name: Sharkas, or 'they who doubt', as Old Orcish generally offered a prestige that common-tongue orcish names didn't. She would become a grandmother, navigate her way through numerous political crises, and even swear in the youngest wisdom in Parakosi history; Yugen, a novice who'd been abruptly sworn in at the age of twenty due to his mentor, Vardyn, going missing on his second major expedition to Yukishima.
This would come to backfire, as Yugen's revival of the master torturer position, along with attempted marriage links to the House of Gemfire, have led to historically high tensions with the otherwise neutral noble house. While she's not replaced the young wisdom, she is wary of his competence, and while each of the Masters of Parakos currently serving her have earned their spot through tourney or direct appointment, Sharkas lives up to her name in that she has doubts about all of them, as well as doubting the entire Parakosi and mainstream Arkheran systems alike. Nowadays, she's a bent-backed old woman with a dry wit, simply waiting to attach herself to a political revolutionary willing to change Arkhera in a way that suits her own vision for the kingdom.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Sharkas is noticeable in that despite have the usual imposing nature orcs have compared to non-orcs, she has a significantly doubled-over back that places her height around that of a tall spellbinder's rather than the average-heighted orc she used to be in her youth. She's got thin body hair, as per most female orcs, brown in some places but mostly faded to grey. She also has one noticeably chipped-down tusk, leading to her commoner name, 'Onetooth', set aside when she ascended to lady and adopted the more formal 'Sharkas', or 'They who doubt'.
Despite, like most orcs, being covered in hair, she also wears a red, robe-like outfit on top of her body with purple trimming, along with a hood as is often customary for desert orcesses. She also has a gnarled custom-made cane made of jet and haunted wood, making for a striking black and white combo.

Social

Contacts & Relations

Swordmaster El'kha (head of military training in swordplay)
Sharpshooter Exar (head of military training in archery and gun handling)
Master of Ice Mal'gan (head of mage training, specifically in cryomancy)
Master of Fire Yukei (head of mage training, specifically in pyromancy)
Wisdom Yugen (wisdom and chronologist)
Master Torturer Alys (former master torturer)
Trademaster Wick (head economist)
Overlord Kel'nas Sinhelios (overlord)
Lady Marissa Gemfire (consistently tense thorn in side)

Family Ties

Religious Views

Lady Sharkas is a moon worshipper, however she isn't quite as superstitious as most. She simply believes the moon, with its great redstone veins and regular shedding of meteors from its surface, plays an important role to the world, and as such, considers it worthy of reverence. She doesn't, as most moon worshippers do, think the moon is a source of future predictions, and she even reacts to the notion that the moon could affect tides, as stated in Yukishiman scientific papers, as somewhat far-fetched.

Relationships

Alignment

Neutral Good

Current Location

Parakos

Species

Orc

Conditions

• Spinal Curvature

Ethnicity

Arkheran

Honorary & Occupational Titles

Elective Lady of Parakos
Keeper of the Old City
Guardian of the Sands

Year of Birth

485 AGA 66 Years old

Circumstances of Birth

Common

Birthplace

Parakos

Spouses

Siblings

Current Residence

Parakos

Gender

Female

Eyes

Brown

Hair

Grey-Brown

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Copper Brown

Height

7'6'' (doubled over from back issues)

Aligned Organization

The Elective House of Daemonwing

Other Affiliations

• House of Sinhelios
• Sea of Daemons

Known Languages

Common Tongue
Old Orcish
Madaki
Old Galdusian