Strakha Safiros
Lady Strakha Ellaria Safiros
An extremely young lady, Strakha Safiros is a girl surrounded by advisors who nonetheless feels completely alone. The only child of Serwyn Safiros and Ellaria Yagaska, she was raised without a mother due to her dying in childbirth. Despite this, her father attempted to make her childhood comfortable and happy, though even as a little girl, Strakha showed signs of a melancholy that no amount of pampering would rectify.
Her nature as an only child always haunted her; both her mother's and father's generation were generations of multiple siblings, and while her Uncle Erwyn insisted that her mother's death was the work of the incompetent Wisdom Alwyn, she couldn't help but blame herself for her loneliness. Lord Serwyn regularly attempted to 'buy friends' for Strakha from the common folk, but she was unable to relate to them, and while summoning the similarly-aged heirs to Moonrock and the Sunfort was a much more effective strategy, ultimately Strakha regarded both Salekh Moonchild and Sonaxa Solerro with a marked detachment.
Making matters more worrying for Lord Serwyn, Strakha would eventually come to befriend not people her age, but people old enough to be her parents. She would grow close to older staff members, especially the irascible Sir Verik, a seerish knight who used to be her mother's sworn shield. Strakha was quick to note that while Lord Serwyn was eager to sweep her mother under the rug, Verik would talk endlessly and passionately about the late Ellaria Yagaska; how despite her family and her father despising seers, she trusted him as a personal guard, how she exhibited naught but kindness to him. Despite being ten, Strakha was astute enough to ask him if he loved her. Verik unreservedly accepted that he did.
As such, Strakha grew a small set of friends; her Uncle Erwyn remained a pen-pal, Verik was her confident, and when she needed to talk to girls her own age, she could always visit Moonrock or the Sunfort. She still had a reputation as a grim young woman, but she didn't particularly care; she knew she had people who cared. As Strakha's fourteenth naming day approached, Lord Serwyn took his daughter aside and told her it was time to start seeking out suitable marriage matches. While Strakha had enjoyed the company of girls her age, she was uncomfortable whenever young men called her pretty, and she didn't expect that to change. Despite this, she did her duty; after all, her Aunt Dina, his father's only younger sister (his other two being older and married off in the Divine Halls and Sanguinas Isle), had regularly attempted to assert herself as an alternative heir, and getting married would be Strakha's confirmation as the best choice of heir.
There was one glaring issue, however; noble high elven men around her age were few and far between. Some were close, such as the eighteen-year-old Yal'dan Boathis, or her nineteen-year-old Uncle Vledyn Yagaska, but most were minor knights or old enough to be her father. Serwyn, suddenly inspired, figured out the perfect choice (at least to himself). He acknowledged Strakha's fondness for befriending slightly older men, and balanced this with an age difference that would mitigate itself the older Strakha became. As such, he suggested Lord Saryn Moonchild's younger brother, a man of twenty-one named Maltyn.
Maltyn was a shy fellow, much like Strakha, round of face, stilted in speech unless one was talking about locomotives (in which case he could talk for hours). When the two met, Strakha was generally unimpressed, but as Maltyn was an inoffensive, kind person who appeared to empathise with her general distaste for big social occasions, she accepted the betrothal. In Strakha's mind, marriage to a kind husband was one few noblewomen could boast of; she'd heard the tales of Kel'dan Sinhelios and El'koran Werenthos, aggressive, stalwart men so preoccupied with their masculinity that they'd oppress their wives. Comparatively speaking, a chubby, shy man who liked trains was positively palatable.
While Serwyn was overjoyed, his joy wouldn't last too long, as within a year, he would die of some manner of heart complication. Wisdom Alwyn, horrified with himself for losing yet another charge, almost killed himself, however, the new lady Strakha and her appointed regent, Sir Verik, held an investigation into her father's death; Upon calling in her Uncle Erwyn as an expert, his autoposy revealed a blockage in his aorta, something Alwyn would have no means of curing. While it was clear her uncle still hadn't forgiven the loss of his sister, Alwyn was exonerated of incompetence in this case, and stayed in Strakha's council as an advisor.
When Strakha reached the age of sixteen, Sir Verik ceased being her regent and she became lady in her own right. She would marry Maltyn not long after, and though she hadn't been excited for the event in any case, she came to realise that she despised consummation. A visit to the Sunfort shortly after, in which she saw Sonaxa Solerro, now almost a woman herself, made her understand the truth of the matter; she was more attracted to women than men. Maltyn, oblivious as he was, would continually try to be a good husband, but Strakha's realisation of this, along with the general malaise of having no parents, a consistently seditious aunt, and a wisdom that perpetually reminds her of how her birth killed her mother, has led her down perhaps her darkest depression yet.
Making matters worse, Strakha has recently fallen pregnant. While this was her hope when she first sought out a husband, now she's grown miserable and resentful over the sickness and exhaustion she's going through simply to maintain her noble duties. Recently, she's attempted to find solace in circuses, hoping to find laughter and fun in any way possible, but owing to general stigma circuses have had ever since the Cheegal Incident, this has only served to build on Strakha's reputation as a gloomy, socially bizarre young woman.
Deeply lonely and unsure if she'll ever be truly happy, Strakha Safiros considers herself incapable of sharing her inner world with anyone. and with a baby on the way, many have concerns about how she'll act as a mother.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Strakha Safiros looks remarkably similar to the black-haired members of her distant relatives, the Selenias, having a small nose, and what would usually be a slender figure, if not for her belly caused by early pregnancy. She has striking blue eyes, straight, raven hair, and tends to garb herself similarly, having mostly blue and black clothing. She used to wear a corset, but now favours loose, flowing dresses, and likes wearing feathery Elarondian tricorns.
Social
Contacts & Relations
Wisdom Alwyn (personal scholar and mentor)
Sir Verik (personal bodyguard and close friend)
Sir Verik (personal bodyguard and close friend)
Family Ties
Religious Views
Strakha is technically an Elarondian Eternalist, but she has little to no interest in religion, preferring to simply quietly donate money to her local church and ignore the priests at large. As such, she's something of a one-sided friend of the church; they consider her a generous lady, while she simply knows that the commoners value the priesthood's musings.
Relationships
Alignment
Lawful Neutral
Current Location
Species
Ethnicity
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Lady of Starfall
Keeper of the Sanguinasi Sapphire Mines
Keeper of the Sanguinasi Sapphire Mines
Year of Birth
534 AGA
17 Years old
Circumstances of Birth
Noble
Birthplace
Starfall
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Current Residence
Starfall
Gender
Female
Eyes
Blue
Hair
Black
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Light Olive
Height
5'9''
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
Elarondian (basic)
Comments