Inaril Frostwind
From Mizahar Lore
Rayvehk of the Watch | |||||||||||
Race | Drykas | ||||||||||
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Date of birth | 480 AV (aged 43) | ||||||||||
Place of birth | Endrykas | ||||||||||
Title | Rayvehk of the Stormwatch | ||||||||||
Skills |
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Gnosis marks |
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Contents |
Abstract
Inaril is one of the many Rayvehks, or Commanders, of the Stormwatch, the "border patrol" of Cyphrus. She is a very family-oriented woman, loving her people, her land, and her family above all else, including herself. She leads a full regiment of fifteen Tahvekh, serving under the Sayaph of the watch, Kirabo Bloodwind.
Appearance
Inaril is definitely not what the eye would first have one believe. Her soft features and brown eyes are not what one would expect to find on a warrior's body. Toned muscles cover the entirety of her body, normally hidden underneath form-fitting, resin-dipped leather armor. A fur cloak can be found around her shoulders in the colder times of the year, protecting her from the biting winds of the Sea of Grass. Inaril measures in at a rather unimpressive 5'6, her muscles causing her to weigh in around 132 pounds. Diamonds are strewn through Inaril's starwberry blond hair, which stops just between her shoulderblades. She is 30 years old.
The warrior is never seen without her defining spear, its metal tip fastened upon a wooden shaft that looks like it must have been carved by masters. Upon her back is a leather kite shield, dipped in resin. As if this arsenal of weaponry was not enough, she also has a shortbow, normally carried unstrung in her quiver, which is strapped to the small of her back. It's position, at a 75 degree angle to the right, keeps arrows from falling out, but allows her to preform a full draw no matter the situation.
Personality
Inaril is a calm and level person, hard to bring to anger or irritation. She bears the pride and passion standard of most Drykas. The only thing that can quickly bring her to anger is when people mock her skill level-- especially when she is clearly their superior. Her calm and level attitude is one of the reasons she's come so far in the Stormwatch, as it allows her to debate and argue with foreigners who would bring any other person to a rage. However, it is also somewhat of a weakness. It is hard for her to show any form of emotion, really, leaving her somewhat disconnected and aloof in a very emotional society. She will never speak unless she needs to, but when she does speak, she is long-winded, tending to ramble on, using eloquent rhetorical devices and literary terms.
Inaril's mind is always deducing the tactical situation of the area around her, which, on the Sea of Grass, is usually the same. Whereas the casual onlooker might see a bush, she sees a centerpiece of a debilitating ambush. Whereas a fleeing foreigner may see a field of geysers, she sees something to trap her foe in, and wait for the heat to boil him alive. She is cold and calculating, but underneath that, if you do find her emotion, she is a rather warm individual, even if she tends to be straightforward and honest to the point that it hurts.
Family, People, Home, and Honor are the four most important things to Inaril. All of her leave time is spent amongst her family, and all of her time with the Stormwatch is spent dedicated to protecting her home with a fierce, unwavering loyalty. If she was asked, she would give her life for her Home's safety.
Strider
Her strider is a buckskin stallion, with a black mane and tail, both speckled with buckskin spots of hair. He is named Karra. Her windmarks dance up her left arm in the form of lightning bolts, originating from her finger tips. Eventually, it makes its way up around her shoulder, where it meets the swirling, glowing silver and blue mark of her God, Zulrav, located on her left scapula.
History
Inaril is the third child of five of the first wife of the second son of the Frostwind Pavilion, a relatively unknown Pavilion in the Diamond Clan of Endrykas. In other words, greatness was never particularly handed to her on a silver platter. The only thing that really made her unique, made her different from the hordes of other children in the Frostwind Pavilion was the mark on her left scapula, a mark from Zulrav. Despite this, she was raised like a woman, taught how to maintain the Pavilion. She was to be the perfect wife for whatever Pavilion she married into, but that was never enough for her. When she was eight, she was bound to her first Strider, an aging mare by the name of Seria. Around the age of nine, she had her first experience with a spear, discovering a love for it that she had never been able to find for such mundane tasks as weaving and cooking. In secret, she practiced for years, honing her skills, eventually adding a shield to the flurry of jabs and wild, poor slices. Once she felt competent enough, she showed this display to her father, who finally realized that maybe, just maybe, the life of a housewife was not the life for her.
It was at that point that her father began training her himself, teaching her how to use a spear properly, not in the bootlegged way she had showed him. He taught her how to use a spear, how to block both blows and arrows with a shield, how to skewer a man from fifty paces with an arrow. Everything she learned, she learned from her father. When she was fourteen, her Strider passed away. When he finally passed away, when she was seventeen, she approached her Uncle, the Ankal, asking for permission to learn the art of Webbing. Seeing the speed with which she had advanced, he decided that it would be beneficial for the Pavilion, and initiated her. Now, she simply needed a Strider. Four years after her father's death, she found that Strider, one named Karra, who she proceeded to bond with. Finally bound to a Strider, she approached the Sayaph of the Watch, looking for the initiation she so craved, for the position that meant she meant something.
She received it. Now dedicated to the service of her people, she set about her work as a Tahvekh with fiery passion, serving without hesitating, no matter what orders were given to her. She finally drew attention to herself when the Rayvekh of her regiment perished. A foreigner had started a raging fire in the grasses, and the Rayvehk had Overgiven to the point where he was nothing but a dribbling maniac bringing it back into check. Inaril was forced to slay both the Rayvehk and the foreigner, then rally the remnants of the broken regiment and lead them back to Endrykas. It was this act that saw her promoted to Rayvehk of the very same regiment, and was truly her initiation into how to instill courage and loyalty in the hearts of men.
To this day, she leads that same regiment. The men have come and gone, but she has stayed, serving her people with time-tested devotion, protecting them from the dangers that seek to come into the Grasslands.