Oola
Blightsister Oola Scrumph of the Kosheer
Oola is an elfing death priestess who has been exiled by her tribe.
Deep in the least hospitable parts of the Black Forest, on the northern banks of the Narlimar River there is an even less hospitable area called the Star Marshes. The poetic name must have been given to the region by a very optimistic traveller, who didn't spent much time there, for the stars are almost always covered by the musty-smelling fog that always rolls cloyingly over the fetid landscape. On a small island in this depressing landscape a small tribe of Ydoran elflings scrape out a meager existence by fishing and hunting lizards. They call themselves the Kosheer (the Bonegnawers), and they practice a distinct version of the Old Faith, heavily influenced by their fetid surroundings: in each generation, two baby girls are annointed to be priestesses of two aspects of the allmother: the blightsister and the bloomsister. it is considered an especially good sign if they are actually sisters (i.e. twins). The blightsister takes care of everything related to death and the bloomsister everything related to life. when one dies, the other one usually follows her sister in death, so that a new sister-pair can take over. Oola scrumph and her sister Aela were born twins in 727 SE and annointed in this way, Oola as the blightsister and Aela as the bloomsister. They were given over to the sisters of the tribe, and they were never told who their real parents were; the only guardians they knew where Gainin, the bloomsister, and Anasta, the blightsister. Each girl grew up learning from their mistress, Aela learning midwifery, healing and medicine, and cooking, while Oola learned hunting, potion making, and how to perform funeral rites and animal sacrifice. Oola also learned how to harness the spirits of the ancestors, to help the tribe and hurt their enemies. Anasta and Gainin were old, even when the girls were small, and it was expected that they would take over the spiritual leadership of the tribe when they turned 19, but when the day came, in 746 SE, Aela disappeared mysteriously. Oola and her had, as they always did, slept in a tent together, but when Oola woke in the morning of the day the rite of transfer was going to be performed, Aela had vanished. No one had seen her leave, and no tracks could be found. Most agreed that it was a very bad omen; perhaps she had been spirited away by agents of the elves under the mountains, who wanted her power for themselves, or maybe the ancestors had made the earth swallow her up, to warn the tribe that the sisters were the wrong choice. The people of the tribe saw no other option than to chase away the young Oola to keep the balance, while Gainin and Anasta would remain in charge until a new pair of sisters could be trained. The tribesmen threw stones and roots at Oola, and she was forced to run away, with nothing but the clothes she had slept in. Oola wandered around the swamps for weeks, surviving by eating worms and bugs. At one time she was attacked by a swampcrock, one of the fiercest predators in the swamps and managed to kill it, but was herself gravely wounded. For days she drifted in and out of consciessnes and her only source of food was the progressively more and more putrid flesh of her attacker,but somehow the blightmother spared her life, and in her weakened state she saw a vision of a pleasant land outside the swamps, where the rivers flowed with milk and honey and she decided to leave her place of birth. when she was well enough she fashioned an armour and a weapon from her defeated foes bones as is the tradition of her people, and set forth to find the world outside. she wandered alone for many moons and finally she came to the bordes of the swamp. The outside world seemed weird to her, but there was food to steal and livestock to slaughter and eat, so long as you could outrun the peasants hounds. it was in many ways an easy life compared to the life in the swamps, but Oola still felt a longing. the outside world could not give her what she really needed (even if she would never admit this to anyone, even to herself) She needed a place to belong.Then one day a cirkus passed through the barn where she was hiding, but it was no ordinary cirkus. it was the weirdest assemblage of creatures that Oola had ever seen and she knew in her heart of hearts that thsi was her family, and thus she started to follow them until their leader accepted her as part of the motley crew.
Background:
Deep in the least hospitable parts of the Black Forest, on the northern banks of the Narlimar River there is an even less hospitable area called the Star Marshes. The poetic name must have been given to the region by a very optimistic traveller, who didn't spent much time there, for the stars are almost always covered by the musty-smelling fog that always rolls cloyingly over the fetid landscape. On a small island in this depressing landscape a small tribe of Ydoran elflings scrape out a meager existence by fishing and hunting lizards. They call themselves the Kosheer (the Bonegnawers), and they practice a distinct version of the Old Faith, heavily influenced by their fetid surroundings: in each generation, two baby girls are annointed to be priestesses of two aspects of the allmother: the blightsister and the bloomsister. it is considered an especially good sign if they are actually sisters (i.e. twins). The blightsister takes care of everything related to death and the bloomsister everything related to life. when one dies, the other one usually follows her sister in death, so that a new sister-pair can take over. Oola scrumph and her sister Aela were born twins in 727 SE and annointed in this way, Oola as the blightsister and Aela as the bloomsister. They were given over to the sisters of the tribe, and they were never told who their real parents were; the only guardians they knew where Gainin, the bloomsister, and Anasta, the blightsister. Each girl grew up learning from their mistress, Aela learning midwifery, healing and medicine, and cooking, while Oola learned hunting, potion making, and how to perform funeral rites and animal sacrifice. Oola also learned how to harness the spirits of the ancestors, to help the tribe and hurt their enemies. Anasta and Gainin were old, even when the girls were small, and it was expected that they would take over the spiritual leadership of the tribe when they turned 19, but when the day came, in 746 SE, Aela disappeared mysteriously. Oola and her had, as they always did, slept in a tent together, but when Oola woke in the morning of the day the rite of transfer was going to be performed, Aela had vanished. No one had seen her leave, and no tracks could be found. Most agreed that it was a very bad omen; perhaps she had been spirited away by agents of the elves under the mountains, who wanted her power for themselves, or maybe the ancestors had made the earth swallow her up, to warn the tribe that the sisters were the wrong choice. The people of the tribe saw no other option than to chase away the young Oola to keep the balance, while Gainin and Anasta would remain in charge until a new pair of sisters could be trained. The tribesmen threw stones and roots at Oola, and she was forced to run away, with nothing but the clothes she had slept in. Oola wandered around the swamps for weeks, surviving by eating worms and bugs. At one time she was attacked by a swampcrock, one of the fiercest predators in the swamps and managed to kill it, but was herself gravely wounded. For days she drifted in and out of consciessnes and her only source of food was the progressively more and more putrid flesh of her attacker,but somehow the blightmother spared her life, and in her weakened state she saw a vision of a pleasant land outside the swamps, where the rivers flowed with milk and honey and she decided to leave her place of birth. when she was well enough she fashioned an armour and a weapon from her defeated foes bones as is the tradition of her people, and set forth to find the world outside. she wandered alone for many moons and finally she came to the bordes of the swamp. The outside world seemed weird to her, but there was food to steal and livestock to slaughter and eat, so long as you could outrun the peasants hounds. it was in many ways an easy life compared to the life in the swamps, but Oola still felt a longing. the outside world could not give her what she really needed (even if she would never admit this to anyone, even to herself) She needed a place to belong.Then one day a cirkus passed through the barn where she was hiding, but it was no ordinary cirkus. it was the weirdest assemblage of creatures that Oola had ever seen and she knew in her heart of hearts that thsi was her family, and thus she started to follow them until their leader accepted her as part of the motley crew.
Alignment
True Neutral
Species
Ethnicity
Year of Birth
727 SE
37 Years old
Birthplace
The Black Forest
Children
Pronouns
Her
Belief/Deity
A distinctly Kosheeri cult of the Old Faith
Sarkaran (common)
Comments