__________________QUICK STATS

Name The Hungry One, She Who Devours, The Maneating Maiden, she has been given many names. For fear of drawing her attention, her true name is seldom uttered by mortal kind. Names have power after all. Better careful than not, you never know when Rakshasi might be listening. Though, when disguising herself as a mortal, Sang Ni suits her just fine.
Age As old as the marshes themselves
Gender Female
Species Man-Eating Demoness
Ethnicity Rulastinia
Height varies, always the tallest person in the room

__________________IN-DEPTH STUFF

Spoiler

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In her true form, Rakshasi towers above houses and men. Massive and impeccably muscular, she wears only the pelts of wild beasts around her waist.  Her head is a tall mountain peak and her hair the turbulent rivers that pour down her shoulders to meet the sea. The darkness of their hair is the shadow of reeds against moonlight. Her teeth put the tusks of elephants to shame.



When among mortals, her form changes to match that of those around her, though there are some traits she keeps consistently. Red hair, because she thinks it's pretty. Tan skin, because she likes to take naps in the sun after eating and doesn't want to get burnt. Tall and muscular, because people ask less questions about why you eat so much.


Rakshasi doesn't have the most experience with having "normal people conversations" and it shows. Her choice language tends to be overly formal and her word choice archaic. Normally it helps emphasize how old and powerful you are as a demon but among mortals you just sound weird. She is also surprisingly jovial for someone who used to eat people and has learned to enjoy the social aspect of eating, rather than just the act of eating itself. Raucous taverns and lively hole-in-the-wall eateries are her favorite places to frequent while in mortal form. She is also very critical of other people's hospitality. If she judges someone a good and generous host she may bless them with good fortune. If she judges someone a bad host she may curse them with misfortune.


As a demoness of the marshes, Rakshasi is a natural shapeshifter. According to legend, she can grow as tall as a mountain, take the shape of a menacing black tiger, or appear to be a beautiful young woman. Whatever it takes to lure a person into the wetlands where they'll never be seen again. Nowadays she uses these powers to pass as a "local" wherever she goes. You know what they say, when in Rulastinia, do as the Anathanati do. In addition to shapeshifting, Rakshasi also possess tenfold supernatural strength, an iron stomach, and near insatiable hunger.

When going among mortals, she may be inclined to bless or curse them, depending on how hospitable they are. For example, if she goes to a house asking for food and they give her a delicious bowl of homemade soup, they may find a miraculous orange tree growing in their garden. If she goes to the house of a noble and all they give her is stale rice and cold tea, the household may be struck with sudden potentially deadly illness.


Aung Kyiang Suu - The hunter who put a stop to Rakshasi's maneating habits.


For centuries, a fearsome maneating demon terrorized the people of Rulastinia. Elders would warn children not to stray into the marshes after dark, lest they be snatched away and eaten by the Hungry One. Those who had the misfortune of encountering She Who Devours by the riverside were seldom seen again, save for the bones found floating in the water. They spoke of her insatiable appetite for human flesh, how whole families would be devoured in their entirety. If not for the Hunters she would have feasted upon the Anathanati people for all time.

It was Aung Kyiang Suu who finally faced her down. The first time they met she took the form of a  beautiful woman alone on a fishing boat. It was a duel of balance on water with no winner, but she was able to get a taste of his flesh. The second time they met she took the form of a black striped tiger swimming through a river. It was a duel over stepping stones and around rapids, with again no winner, but he was able to wound the demoness. The third time they met she took her true form, monstrous and hungry for people-meat. It was less of a duel and more of a chase between predator and prey through the marshlands. The hunter led her into an abandoned woodcutter's shack where he trapped her under a rice bowl.

The rice bowl could only hold the demoness for so long but the two came to an agreement. If Aung Kyiang could cook her a meal that tasted better than people flesh, she would swear off eating people forever. He served her a three course meal starting with a wet salad made from fermented tea leaves. The first course consisted of steamed freshwater clams with ginger and garlic. The second course consisted of catfish soup seasoned with more ginger, lemongrass, and pepper. The third course consisted of broiled crayfish seasoned with warm spices and lemon. For dessert, coconut milk rice pudding.

The meal was more than enough to convince the demoness and so she swore off the meat of people. To satiate her endless hunger, she decided to travel across Panzhong and try all the foods that people had to offer. She's even writing a book about it.


__________________Fun Meta Facts!


✿ Her mortal name "Sang Ni" is a combination of the Burmese names Sang meaning "tall" or "above others," and Ni meaning "red." Her name is purposely obvious and simple as a way to show Rakshasi's initial lack of knowledge about humans (expect for how they taste). From an in-character perspective, Sang Ni is tall and red-haired because she thinks it looks cool. From an out-of-character perspective, these traits make her stand out among other Anathanati people to the point that she would be a walking talking target for predatory creatures of the swamps. Were she a normal mortal this would be worth worrying about, but the effect of her striking appearance is closer to aposematism, when animals clearly advertise via color, scent, etc that they are dangerous and should not be eaten. From a visual design standpoint, this is me as the artist telling you she's an apex predator of the swamps so don't mess with her.

✿ Rakshasi is based off of the Hindu-Buddhist demon she was named after. "Rakshasa (Sanskrit: राक्षस, rākṣasa) is a supernatural being in Hinduism. As Hinduism influenced other religions, the rakshasa was later incorporated into Buddhism. Rakshasas are also called "man-eaters" (nri-chakshas, kravyads). A female rakshasa is known as a rakshasi. A female rakshasi in human form is a rakshesha." (source: wikipedia)

✿ Rakshasi's character concept was partially inspired by the story of Hariti. "According to myth, Hārītī was originally a rākṣasī of Rajgir at the same time that Gautama Buddha also lived there. She had hundreds of children of her own, whom she loved and doted upon, but to feed them, she abducted and killed the children of others. The bereaved mothers of her victims pleaded to the Buddha to save them. So, the Buddha stole the youngest of her sons (in a variant version, the youngest daughter), and hid him under his rice bowl. After having desperately searched for her missing son throughout the universe, Hārītī finally appealed to the Buddha for help." (source: wikipedia)

✿ Part of how Aung managed to trap Rakshasi was by leaving out several vats of alcohol, each containing a single drop of his blood. Upon finding the conveniently placed booze the demoness took it upon herself to get drunk and pass out allowing Aung to trap her under a rice bowl. This part of her backstory was also inspired by the story of Sekhmet. "In the myth, Sekhmet's blood-lust was not quelled at the end of battle and led to her destroying almost all of humanity. To stop her Ra poured out beer dyed with red ochre or hematite so that it resembled blood. Mistaking the beer for blood, she became so drunk that she gave up the slaughter and returned peacefully to Ra." (source: wikipedia)

✿ Sang Ni's career as a "food blogger," while actually being a reformed demoness who can bless/curse people based on their hospitality towards her is an example of theoxenia. "Theoxeny or theoxenia is a theme in Greek mythology in which human beings demonstrate their virtue or piety by extending hospitality to a humble stranger (xenos), who turns out to be a disguised deity (theos) with the capacity to bestow rewards. These stories caution mortals that any guest should be treated as if potentially a disguised divinity and help establish the idea of xenia as a fundamental Greek custom." While the term is Greek in origin the concept of hospitality towards strangers who are actually divine or supernatural beings can be see in folklore across the world. (source: wikipedia) 


__________________THREAD TRACKER

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Journeys almost always started in the early morning. Most folk wanted maximum daylight for travel because doing anything in the dark was "scary" and they wanted to "sleep at night." Of course as a creature of the evening, Vik had her own opinions about this. Wolves were most active at dawn and dusk with the varulfur being no different. Vik preferred to wake during late afternoons, dusk, and the long, dark hours of night that followed. Any and all hours from dawn to noon were for sleeping. Despite this, the shewolf had begrudgingly dragged herself from bed that morning with the sun as it dragged itself over the horizon.

As she sat on a squat tree stump on the outskirts of town, she rubbed at her eyes wearily and blinked through the dusty morning light. She was supposed to meet her next "traveling companion" there before accompanying them to their intended destination. Going between settlements in any country always ran the risk of bandits, brigands, highwaymen, wild beasts, troublesome fae, and gods knew what else, which is why folk might hire a mercenary like Vik to protect them along the way. With her back to the rising sun, she caught sight of a figure approaching and stood to greet them, assuming they were the one that hired her.

"You the one I'm supposed t' be protecting? Where we headed?"

In a quiet back alley establishment, Ragya waited for what could be her next lead in hunting a djinn that was supposedly influencing certain Merchant Princes. Through the cousin of a friend of a sister of the Hand she'd been put into contact with someone with possible connections to the Merchant Prince Kellok. The man was infamous for his cruelty as a slave owner. His rivals spoke no end of rumors that his success stemmed from a dark deal struck with a djinn. Merchant Princes would often alledge such things of each other, but it was the duty of the Hand to discern whether the rumors were true.

Whether or not Kellok was truly conspiring with dark forces was what Ragya sought to find out. Despite the pleasantly warm evening, she remained covered from head to toe in dark traveler's clothing. She was oddly modest for an Essyrni woman. As she waited, she wondered what her potential employer would be like. She could only hope that someone with ties to a man like Kellok would treat their hired help kindly.

[Art Credit: me, I drew this]

What are your favorite kinds of plots and relationships to play?

For Ragya (and her sisters): She does well with strong platonic relationships. Etain is pansexual but the rest of her sisters are generally disinterested in sex and romance. Ragya understands that if she ever were to let someone get close to her, romantically, they couldn't want to be with just Ragya. She's a package deal. As for plots, Ragya has a personal plot where she's trying to hunt down a specific djinn, so there's always opportunities for to meet people along the way. One way or another, I would like to write about her acquiring horses and starting a business on the side.

For Kai: She's good for slow-burning, unrequited romance on her side, and angst because boy if you fall for her she will hurt you. She'll probably hurt herself too, but that's her problem. Also has a mortal weakness for cute boys she probably can't have, which is again, her problem. Kai is also the kind of person who's comfortable with hookups and friends-with-benefits relationships, so long as her partners don't ask for more than that. As for plot, " bonding over work/doing a job together," "monster vs monster hunter," "Kai getting caught doing something bloody," etc. and I'm generally interested in interacting with other werewolf/shifter characters.

What are your least favorite kinds of plots and relationships to play?

Please do not come at me with a character who wants to "fix" my characters or befriend them right off the bat.

What are your favorite character types to play?

Strong women of color

Are you a planner or a pantser? Do you prefer to pre-plan and stick to a script when posting, or do you prefer to surprise and be surprised?

I generally like to have a setup and a plot trajectory then seeing where things go from there, but I'm very used to getting stuff thrown at me and having my characters respond accordingly.

How do you feel about group threads?

Love em. Most of my early RP years were done in big group threads.

How often can you reply to any given thread? How long should a partner wait before nudging you for a post?

Uhhhh depends on how many spoons I have at a given time to sit and think about what my character would do before trying to put it into words. Give it... about a week at most.

What is the longest you're willing to wait for a reply to a thread?

Depends on the importance of the thread.

How do you feel about instant messenger RP?

Used it some, more interested in forum posts.

Ho do you feel about post volleying/rapidfire RP?
(Where you and another player post rapidly back and forth in a thread with each other.)

-grabby hands- I'm here for it.

What's your preferred posting style? Long posts? Short posts? Anything and everything?

Anything between a short paragraph to a few paragraphs. I can't write novella, but I CAN draw comic pages. If anyone wants to do a purely drawn RP hmu.

Any RP styles/habits that you love?

When it reads like something out of a book. -chef kiss-

Any RP styles/habits that you avoid?

Overly complex prose. i.e. using "orbs" or "ochules" as a replacement for writing "eyes." Overly formatted text also annoys me.



What are you limits regarding powerplay/godmoding?
(For instance, do you mind if someone grabs your character? Picks them up? Punches them?)

People can write that they "attempt to do ____" to my characters but I prefer if it's left up to me to write what happens to them. Just to get a little meta here, my characters greatly value their personal agency. Ragya is a former slave and Kai is fiercely independent (because spoiler: she's afraid of getting too attached to people). They hate being controlled, and as a writer I'm not going to have any fun if I can't control my characters either.

What are your limits in regards to romantic situations?
(What are you comfortable with and not comfortable with? Do you prefer to pre-plot relationships or let them happen organically? Are you open to IC-rejection or love-triangles? Age differences? Etc.)

Like with threads, I'm okay with setting characters up and giving them a trajectory but I'm also a fan when things happen naturally. Kai is a tragic character, which makes romance related angst easy to write for her. Ragya tends to be too focused on her objectives to really have relationships?

What are your limits with regards to graphic content such as sex, violence, drug use, sexual assault, etc? What is your comfort level?

I don't write smut, violence is fine, drug use is also fine, alcohol use is fine, sexual assault is not. However, violence should be tasteful. I find it distasteful when people write their characters being unnecessarily violent just to show off how strong they are.

What are your limits in regards to pregnancy within plots?
(Are you okay with pregnancy in plots? Miscarriages? Loss?)

As a writer I'm fine with it but I don't really see my characters ever getting involved with those kinds of plots.

What about healing?
(For example, a blind character magically being able to see, a scarred up character having their scars repaired, etc.)

Its not the scars on the outside they need healed, lol.

What about characters being transformed against their will? (Think vampires, werewolves, and magical spells.)

Big nope, see above about character agency.

Anything else?
(Anything else you want to add that other players should know!)

__________________QUICK STATS
Name Kai Eyrikdotir
Also goes by Vik Serah, Viscera, Vik
Age A little over a century
Gender Female
Species Varulfur (werewolf)
Ethnicity Sionadyaki
Height 5"9
Occupation Mercenary

__________________IN-DEPTH STUFF


"Dark as deerskin," "eyes like obsidian arrowheads," "hair so dark and long it better suits a beast," are phrases Kai's heard people use to describe her. She's tall compared to most women, and even if she's not she always seems to be bigger by sheer intimidating presence alone. She's muscular, broad shouldered, and flat chested, making her look relatively masculine, but she has the waist and hips of a woman. Her thighs could nigh strangle a man if he were in the wrong place and she in the right mood. The only sign of her non-human lineage that shows when she's in human form is her mouth full of wolf-like fangs.

She doesn't have the characteristic high cheekbones of the native Sionadyaki but her tan skin and dark, narrow eyes suggest otherwise. If left loose, her mane will become just as wild as the shewolf, hence why she usually keeps it tied back in a low ponytail. What doesn't stay back hangs as bangs that frame her face which she sometimes braids. Her upper arms are marked with red tattoos of crescent moons and petaled flowers while her forearms are scarred with burns in the shape of wrapped chains. Similarly, from the knees down her skin is marred by regular burns, the point that she has lost feeling in the soles of her feet.

She wraps sturdy black cloth over her arms and legs to hide this, as well as protect her shins and forearms. She normally wears a loose, light grey tunic under a longer, darker grey sleeveless robe tied with a red sash. Coming from Hyoite and it's frozen climate, pants are also an essential. As an Ulfsark, she also refuses to fight with armor. If she's really feeling into it, or if she's wrestling, she'll fight shirtless as well.

As a wolf, despite her dark hair, the shades of Kai's fur range from bone-white on her belly and light dun across her back with a reddish tint to the tips of her ears, tail, and around her eyes. She could stand shoulder to shoulder with a Adelan draft horse.


Not the friendliest person you'll ever meet, you're either in her good graces or kept at arm's length. She doesn't particularly like humans, but over the years she's learned to tolerate them and how to act like one of them. In her heart of hearts she's a wolf. She works well in a pack (so long as the people she's working with are competent) but doesn't need to rely on other people to give her directions like a dog. Her many years of working and traveling alone have taught her how to be self sufficient and independent. However, around people she considers her "pack" she is considerably more warm and friendly. Might even crack a joke if she's in a good mood. She doesn't trust easy, but when she does you will have her loyalty until the end.


Descendant of Kveldulf
As a varulfur, Kai is a massive wolf that has the ability to take a human form. Regardless of shape she retains a wolf's sense of smell, hearing, and its deadly fangs. She also retains a number of wolf-like behavioral quirks such as a wolf's appetite and taste for raw meat.

Hake's Training
Most of Kai's knowledge of swordplay and wrestling come from her mentor, Hake. He was an old dog always teaching her new tricks. He taught her how to wield a longsword and to an extent, how to control her berserker rage in and out of battle. When Hake died, Kai took up his family longsword, Brynhildr. The blade was said to have belonged to a legendary shieldmaiden who tragically impaled herself upon the sword after being betrayed by her lover.

A Blessing and a Curse
A blessing: Also known as battle rage, but the berserkergang is more than that. It's a kind of blinding, all consuming rage that makes a person loose all sense of themselves and the world around them until the battle's end. As an Ulfsark, Kai has the gift of the berserkergang. She's a competent enough fighter without it, but the gift makes her a true terror on the battlefield. However, when the rage ends it leaves her weak and helpless as a newborn pup. The brightest and fiercest flames burn the most wood and leave nothing but ashes.

A curse: Kai may have the gift of the berserkergang, but the varulfur would see that gift as tainted for what she has done with it. She killed a someone of close blood relation, and what's worse, ate of their flesh. For this, she is cursed to become a Starving Spirit. When pushed to her limits, beyond that of the berserkergang, the Spirit may posses her body and warp her form into something monstrous. The beast she becomes stands taller than the trees on two feet put prefers to run on four, gaunt as a birch in winter when the branches are stripped of leaves. Her hands grow sharpened, grasping claws and her face is lost behind a skeletal maw. The only aspect of who she was that remains is her dark and tangled mane, falling over her shoulders and back like a shroud. In a cruel twist of fate, the curse also extends her life beyond that of a mortal lifespan. She does not age, but instead watches those around her grow old and perish before her. For what she has done, she is to live and suffer.


Eyrik Ardenson - father

Insanya - mother

Ayden Eyrikson - brother

Hake - mentor

Merscot "Mercy" MacGregor - friend


The day Kai was born was the day her grandmother died, on a day between the very end of winter and the beginning of spring. Kai's mother, Insanya, came from one of the reindeer herding nomadic tribes that migrated seasonally around Hyoite. She was the first human to enter varulfur territory, brought by her father when they decided to marry. Her father, Eyrik Ardenson, was supposedly descended from Ragnar the First Ulfsark. Everyone in the varulfur likes to claim they're descended from Ragnar, but her grandfather Arden always said that his great-great-great uncle Yngvar Saltfang was an Ulfsark and direct descendant. Kai's little brother, Ayden, was born two years after her.

Even though they were half-human, Eyrik's family did their best to treat Kai and Ayden as they would any other child of the pack. This was easy for Ayden, who first began to shift at the age of three. Year after year they waited for Kai to shift, but she continued to remain in human form. Her parents took her to the shamans and oracles of the various packs, but nothing they did seemed to have any effect. They figured that her human blood prevented her from taking wolf form.

It was difficult for Kai not to feel inferior, despite being the firstborn child and equally skilled as the other varulfur her age. Her legs were fast and carried her far while her teeth were sharp and her nose keen, but still she could not shift. When she was between the ages of eight and nine years there was suggestion of marrying Kai to someone from her mother's clan when she was older. Being a young and emotionally vulnerable, she became distressed at the thought of leaving her wolf family to be with "other humans," and started to take more desperate measures.

During one of the the long Winter Nights, she stole her grandmother's old cloak and lay over her barrow, praying to Fenrir for the ability to shift, therefore making her a true varulfur like the others and giving her a reason to stay. That night she dreamed of a land filled with sunlight where the sky met the sea, an inexplicable sense of peace, and the wings of a great hawk. She saw of her death, the sword that would pierce through her throat and felt the final breath she would breathe. She dreamed of chase and hunting and the taste of blood on her tongue. She dreamed of bloodlust and awoke with rage burning in her bones. The young varlfur howled as her body began to shift and the berserkergang seized her.

Fenrir had heard the girl's prayers. If she wanted to overcome her human blood and become a true wolf, she would need Fenrir's gift. Sadly, no gift from a deity comes without its price. In her rage, hunger, and confusion, Kai murdered and partially ate one of her kinsmen, a younger cousin. There were a few brief moments she was able to regain herself and realize what she had done. She could feel the weight of his flesh filling her stomach and the taste of his blood on her tongue.  The varlfur have a saying, that " when a wolf tastes the flesh of its own kind, it gets a liking to it."

Disoriented and in shock, she reverted back to her wolf form and fled from varulfur territory. Her mind regressed to a more feral state as she traveled across the tundra and hid from the family that searched for her. She fled the Farthest Northlands of Hyoite through Ragnar's Pass and has not looked back since. When her family could not find her, they assumed she had perished trying to survive the unforgiving Northlandic winter alone. What has become of the varulfur since, only Fenrir knows.

Kai spent the rest of her adolescence training with an old berserker named Hake after she spent a several weeks stealing from his bait traps. A retired warrior, Hake lived alone on the boarder between Hyoite and Connlaoth. He taught Kai all he knew of combat, survival, the ways of humans for the day she might chose to live among them, and the ways of the berserker. He died when she was fifteen, of sickness that struck in the heart of winter. She buried him in the spring before taking his sword, Brynhildr, and starting her life as a wandering mercenary.

In the winter of the following year, she agreed to protect a semi-isolated village in the mountains north of Connlaoth from bandits and monsters until spring. A month into the season, one of the village children went after her while she was tracking down a jotnar mountain troll that was getting too close to the village. When she inevitably found the jotnar, it killed the child, reminding her of the young cousin she had killed. The young shewolf went berserk on the mountain troll and by sheer perseverance managed to kill it. Some of the villagers became worried when neither Kai nor the child had returned by sundown.

In the morning they went out searching for them and found Kai in the snow, still in her wolf form and covered in blood. The jotnar's body had turned to stone in the early daylight, appearing as nothing more than an odd arrangement of boulders. They saw the slain child and the blood covered varulfur and came to the conclusion that she was responsible. Despite her pleas of innocence, they judged that she had killed the child and had to be dealt with. They bound her forearms in silver and nearly burned her to death in the village square. As the flames scorched her legs, she was overtaken by the berserkergang, broke free and massacred the entire village. After that she realized that, despite human blood, she would always be a wolf and that her ancestors were right to despise humans.

Over the years she has traveled across most of the continent, never staying in one place for too long, and has participated in her share of battles. The life of a mercenary is never easy but it suits her well. In her early career she gained the nickname "Viscera" from one of her employers after she returned from battle covered in the insides of her enemies. She thought a fearsome name would help further her mercenary career and reputation, so most people these days only know her as Viscera, Vik Serah, or Vik.

Lore of the Farthest Northlands, as told by the descendants of Kveldulf
[note: these are folktales told by the varulfur people. They believe them to be true but whether they are ACTUALLY true, like most folk tales, is unclear]

The Beginning

In the beginning, there was only the earth, the sky, and the sea. One by one, the creatures of land and sky climbed out of the sea, shook the water from their pelts and their feathers, and spread across the lands. The salt water they shook off their bodies went into the sky and became the stars that shine at night.

Fenrir, Mara, and Kveldulf

Fenrir was the first wolf to leave the seas. He is the Father of all wolves and he was also the first wolf to die, but he chose to stay on this side of the sky and watch over his descendants. During the early days after life left the sea, men and wolves were fast friends and could understand each other's speech. Because of their excellent teamwork, they became great hunters and were feared by every other living thing. No creature, from deer to bear to sparrow were safe from man and wolf when they went hunting. Before long, Fenrir became worried that man and wolf would soon hunt all the creatures of the world to their ends and all life would cease to exist. Using his power as a god, Fenrir made it so man and wolf could no longer understand each other's speech. Unable to communicate, man and wolf quickly turned against each other and have been enemies ever since.

It so happened that Fenrir had a beautiful daughter named Mara and her pelt shimmered with all the colors of the world. Many wolves coveted her for as their mate, but Mara had been close to a young human named Askeladd. He was a great hunter and understood the ways of the earth, the whisper of the trees and the heartbeat of the ocean against the shore. Together they went on many a hunt and sang to the winds. They loved each other and were saddened when they could no longer communicate. Askeladd went to Fenrir begged the wolf god for help. After seeing how deeply this human loved his daughter, Fenrir took pity on him. He tore off a piece of his own pelt, giving it to Askeladd and telling him that wearing the pelt at night would allow him to turn into a wolf and that his name was now Kveldulf, which meant 'evening wolf.' He was the first of our kind, the first of the Varlfur. Together at last, Mara and Kveldulf lived happily together and had many children who would become the Varlfur clans that inhabit the Farthest Northlands of Hyoite. When Mara eventually died, as all living creatures do, Fenrir took her beautiful pelt and placed it in the sky. The light that shines off her pelt is now called the Northern Lights, or Mara's lights, and Mara became a goddess of love, motherhood, and of she-wolves.

Descendants of Kveldulf and the Origin of the Ulfsark

Kveldulf and Mara had four sons, Hrothgar, Ketil, Hjalti, Aldulfr and a daughter named Ylfa. When they were born, they had the forms of human children, but as they grew they were able to take wolf form and shift between the two, like their father. Often times they went to go visit their parent's respective families, but when visiting Kveldulf's human family, they were told to be careful and never let them know how they could shift from men to wolves. The animosity between men and wolves was still strong, and Kveldulf feared his human family would kill his children if they knew. After spending time among humans, Ylfa fell in love with a man named Kjaran and married him. For many years they lived happily together and raised children. She married him under the condition that he would promise to never follow her when she went out to hunt. Kjaran agreed, he did not think it strange at first and assumed his wife simply preferred to hunt alone. One day, Kjaran's curiosity got the better of him and he followed his wife into the forest where he watched her turn from woman to wolf, thinking his wife cursed, or worse, a demon. That night, as his wife and children lay sleeping, he went out into the night, barred the doors to their house, and with tears in his eyes, set it on fire killing nearly everyone inside. Only their youngest child, Ragnar, was able to escape the flames. As he watched his mother and siblings burn, Ragnar prayed to the wolf god for help. Fenrir, enraged at the death of his descendants, gave Ragnar the gift of the berserkergang, which he used to kill his father before fleeing to his uncle's families. He was the first Ulfsark, first to receive the gift of battle rage from Fenrir. The death of his family sparked a long, bloody feud between Kveldulf's descendants and the humans of the Northlands of Hyoite.

The humans, who were greater in number, wiped out nearly all of Kveldulf's descendants. The varulfur were pushed again and again farther into the north. Over the course of many years and many bloody battles, Hrothgar, Ketil, Hjalti, and Aldulfr were all slain. Without the four sons of Kveldulf, and by this time Kveldulf himself had passed on, things looked bleak for the varulfur. Taking the bodies of Kveldulf's sons, the remaining varulfur fled to the Farthest North and buried Kveldulf's sons under cairns so high and so great that no human could desecrate the graves.  These became the four mountains that divide the Farthest North and the rest of the world with only one pass in or out. They say the widows of Kveldulf's sons climbed atop the cairns in their slain husbands and swore they would remain there until the end of time, that in the winter they slept and in the spring their their sorrowful tears flowed down the mountains as snowmelt. The remaining varulfur fled to these lands through a single pass in the mountains. To keep humans from getting into the Farthest Northlands, Ragnar the first Ulfsark stood guard at the pass until the end of his days. That is why the pass is known as Ragnar's Pass, to honor him.

In times of need, Fenrir choses a varlfur to become an Ulfsark and gives them the gift of the berserkergang. Some of the most well known figures in northern varulfur tales are Ulfsark, and they are always brave men who inevitably sacrifice themselves for the greater good of their clans and kind. ( Ivar the Iron-Skull slayed a man eating sea serpent, Uthar Grekisson rid the Farthest Northland of dangerous mountain trolls, .etc)

Starving Spirits
The varlfur have a saying, that 'when a wolf tastes the flesh of its own kind, it gets a liking to it.' They also say that eating the flesh of another wolf brings a curse upon you, so that when you die you will become a monsterous  being known as a 'Starving Spirit'. Upon death, the spirit leaves the body and takes the form of a monster that walks on two legs, like a human, but runs on four, like a wolf. At full height it stands over a head and a half above the tallest man with claws long as carving knives. It has no face but a skeletal head with hollow eyes and an ever hungry mouth full of teeth. No matter how much it eats, the Starving Spirit remains gaunt as a dog during famine and will seek to devour whatever, and whoever, it can. The only way to put a Starving Spirit to rest is by driving a blade through its mouth and burning the body. Only then can the spirit be freed.


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Name Ragya
Age 24
Gender Female
Species Human
Ethnicity Essyrni
Height 5'4"
Occupation Djinn Hunter

__________________IN-DEPTH STUFF


Ragya is built like a mountain pony, short but compact and muscular. Most of the time she keeps her long, brown hair tied back in a messy braid that hands between her shoulder blades. She wears a hooded scarf and mask to keep the sun off her face and sand out of her mouth when traveling across the Moraki desert. She tends to favor loose, dark clothing that covers her from head to toe and padded leather armor. Her gold colored eyes suggest a non-Essyrni ancestor, possibly fae, but Ragya's exact lineage is unknown to her. If one looks closely they'll notice that her left eye is a slightly different shade of gold than her right.


Over time Ragya has developed different personas, some originally aliases or disguises she used while undercover, some developing as a result of emotional trauma or experience. Each is a different facet for emotional expression.


[All art featured in this post was drawn by me and taken from MY tumblr blog]

Ragya - Ragya embodies the expression of muted/restricted emotions. It can be hard to tell what she's thinking or feeling via body language, tone of voice, facial expressions, etc. Unlike most Essryni she tends to dress conservatively, keeping her face and most of her body covered. While she does care about others, she's less concerned with the affairs of the Hand and tends to follow her own agenda. Secretly adores horses and wants to become a horse trader on the side. She originated as Yeonbi's undercover alias while on assignments and often refers to her other personas as her "sisters."



Yeonbi - Similar to Ragya, Yeonbi is very calm and collected, but is more likely to show positive emotions. She has a very strong sense of duty to the Hand, who she considers her family, and is notably more friendly and approachable than Ragya. She also takes her duty as a djinn hunter and a member of the Hand very seriously. She is devoted to helping people, much like how the church helped her. She also displays a distinct disdain for the Merchant Princes.



Etain - Etain embodies the expression of strong positive emotions such as joy, enthusiasm, and sexual attraction. She loves to dance, sing, and perform for other people. She was made to ignite the fires of a person's desire, to display confidence and beauty. For Etain, everything is a performance. Etain was who she became during her harem days, when she needed to be the best of the best at performance and entertainment. She is also the most optimistic of her "sisters."



Vepkhia - Vepkhia embodies the expression of strong negative emotions such as sadness, rage, and intense grief. She seeks to deliver vengeance to those who have wronged her and those she cares for. She developed during Ragya's search for Hassan when she made a deal with a dying djinn. The last embers of its life now burn in the rage filled eyes of Vepkhia, the desert tiger that stalks the night in search of her prey.

Ashtad - named after a fabled Seytil that embodied justice, Ashtad embodies the concept of divine judgement. She is focused on delivering Hakeshna's wrath upon those that would do harm to the people of Essyrn, be they people or djinn. Unclear if she is being possessed by the Seytil of Justice themselves or if this is just Ashtad being done with everyone's shit on a celestial level.

Nateshvara - The one who dances in the light of the world's burning. Unlike Vepkhia, who embodies wrath directed at a specific person or thing, Nateshvara embodies indiscriminate chaos and destruction. She is spilled oil that has been cast aflame, deadly and dangerously fluid. She is an unwatched hearth that has become a house fire. When hope is gone and despair alone does reign, so within her spreads the djinn's consuming flames.

Lakiyah - Lakiyah is the "nexus" of all her different personas, like a spider that sits in the middle of a web. She is aware of her other sisters but they are not necessarily aware of her. If her sisters are masks then she is the face behind the mask. Rarely seen or heard from, watches from behind the scenes.



Eye of the Tiger - By carrying the embers of Vhitej's life flame, Ragya can "open a third eye" and "see" beyond normal human sight. The eye also gives her limited control over flame. The eye is normally hidden but when she uses the eye it appears as a set of red lined tattoos on her forehead.

Catch these Hands of God - As a member of the Hand, Yeonbi was trained in the arts of hand-to-hand combat, the Essyrnri curved saber, and archery.


Blood-related family - Dead to her

Hassan Singha, third son of the Merchant Prince Bahktiar - A flirtatious skirt chaser with more charisma than a swindler, but genuinely kind hearted. They met when she was still training to be a concubine. What started with a private dance turned into a friendship based on mutual respect and scholarship. Hassan would bring Etain books and she would entertain him, not with her body, but with her mind. Of course, since he was the son of a Merchant Prince and she a slave, they had to keep their friendship more or less a secret. Etain had taken romantic interest in Hassan, once upon a time, and been heartbroken when she heard he had died. Now that she knows he might be alive, she wants answers.

The Hand of God - This is her family.

Assad - A fellow djinn hunter and member of the Hand, Assad is like the a brother to Yeonbi. When she was first taken in by the Church, Assad was the one who would show her around and try to socialize with her despite the fact she refused to speak to anyone. The first time she spoke at all was when she was watching Assad try to shoot a bow and she told him "You're doing it wrong." They've been best friends ever since.

Shamhat of the Shimmering Silk - The djinn at the top of her seek-and-destroy list. Shamhat had a reputation for ruining the lives of those around her and leaving misery in her wake, so knowing that she is somehow involved with Hassan, Ragya is more determined than ever to hunt the djinn-in-disguise down.


She was never given a name by her birth family. She was one of many children in a poor family that found itself with more mouths than it could feed, which is why she was sold away at a young age. Her new masters then saw that she was trained in the arts of dancing, singing, and every manner of pleasing a man. In the later years of her training she became a close friends with a young man named Hassan, third son of the local Merchant Prince. She always hoped in secret that he would be the one to buy her freedom.

However, those hopes were crushed when Hassan was married to the daughter of a local governor and went missing shortly after (presumably dead). Rumors spread that he had loved another woman and couldn't bear to be without her. Some time later, she was sold to a passing Merchant Prince to become one of his concubines. This arrangement did not last long, for when given the first opportunity she slit his throat and fled into the night. For a short while she lived on the streets until she was taken in by the church.

Seeing that she had the agility of a dancer and a willingness to kill, she was sent to train with the Hand of God, a monastic order founded by a fabled Seytil of Hakeshna with the purpose of hunting djinn and aiding the people of Essyrn. Not all of the order are active hunters, some devote themselves to scholarship or charitable acts in the name of their God. She was lucky enough to be one of the few members of the Hand additionally tasked with investigating affairs outside of Essryn. Since becoming part of the Hand, there is one djinn in particular she has sworn to find and destroy.

Shamhat of the Shimmering Silk, a beautiful djinn who disguised herself as a traveling performer and courtesan. Where she goes, the misfortune of others follows in her wake. She was able to track Shamhat to a caravan traveling through the mountains. She was within an inch of finishing off the djinn when someone else snuck up from behind and put her in a choke hold. The last thing she remembered was Hassan's voice gently hushing her to sleep and telling her not to struggle. She awoke some time later after and found she had been pushed down the side of the mountain.

In the following months she spent continuing her hunt for Shamhat and now possibly Hassan, she was attacked in the desert by a three-eyed-tiger-headed djinn called Vhitej known for terrorizing caravans and leading travelers astray with mirages of their heart's desires. She was able to defeat Vhitej, and as the djinn lay dying he looked into her heart and saw her desire to track down Hassan, so he made her an offer. He would give her his third eye which would "give her greater sight to find what she sought," and in the amber iris carry the embers of his life flame. Her desire to find Hassan outweighed her better judgement as a member of the Hand, and she agreed.

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