Riska | Doe | Wandering Herbalist

Moving to NightingaleFawn

Basic Information

Name: Riska
Gender: Doe
Age: 18
Year of Birth: 743 of the New Age
Height: 9.2hh
Build: Medium
Phenotype: Silver Dapple Classic Fawn
Genotype: Ee/aa/nZ/Ff/fwfw
Eye Colour: Brown
Design Sheet: October Pool #53

Sire: Zusil (NPC)
Dam: Abak'edi (NPC)
Bloodline: Windborne
Magic Type: Wind

Skill Points

Speed: 4 [Basic Level] (Build Cap: 19 points max)
Stamina: 4 [Basic Level]
Strength: 2 [Basic Level]

Magic: 0 [Basic Level]
Herbs: 10 [Medium Level]

Experience: 0

Breakdown

+4 speed - base bonus
+3 stamina - base bonus
+2 strength - base bonus
+1 stamina - starter bonus
+10 herbs - starter bonus

Herd Information

Herd: N/A
Herd Position: Wandering Herbalist
Mate(s): Ratok (deceased)
Current Location: Southern Glenmore

Details

Personality: Emotional | Loves the Sea | Protective | Despises Politics | Reserved

Riska lives with her heart on her sleeve- she feels her emotions strongly and they effect her greatly. When she is happy, it is contagious, but having led such a tragic life, she has had boughts with deep depression. She would trust her close friends with the world, and having been through so much, she would do her best to protect them from harm and horror. She is far from politically minded, and finds such pursuits ridiculous, and the power that some put in it sickens her- she blames politics for the loss of her family and home and never recovered from it, even after all of these years. The one thing that has given her peace over her life has been the sight and memories of the sea- she would often visit the beaches when younger, and the salty sea breeze reminds her of those happier times. After all of her heartbreak, she isn't one to leap into risks and can come off as cold around those she is not close to.

Appearance: In a family where there were many light coated members, Riska was the literal black sheep, having been born with a dark coat- odd enough that her father wondered if he was actually her father when she was born. Though she isn't a fighter, her encounters over the years have left her with numerous scars that crisscross her pelt. Her hair is often intricately braided and kept long, sometimes decorated with plants and/or fangs that were given to her by Demur. Though she is sizable for a Windborn, her years in Blackwood along with her not taking care of herself left her lean. As she strives to remain useful, she often has several collections of herbs with her and is rarely seen without at least one pouch so she can collect any interesting plant life she comes across.

**I drew her with loose hair and without accessories- she'll get a separate accessories ref.**

History: Born in Windborne to a large family, her early years there were rather idyllic, and she looks back upon those "simpler" times fondly, such as the family trips to the beach, where the wind off the sea would fly through their hair. As she grew, however, the growing hostilities between the sections of the herd became more apparent to her.

When she came of age, she fell in love with a stag, Ratok, and it was not long before they had a fawn together, a small filly they named Lakar. Lakar was the light of their lives, and both parents doted on their baby. They raised her together lovingly, until one day when Lakar was nearly a yearling, Ratok took her with him to run an errand. Both Riska and Ratok had done their best to avoid the more touchy subjects, but that day a group of young stags were out to either recruit or cause mischief. Ratok did his best to diffuse the situation, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with them, but Lakar picked up on the tensions and grew frightened. When one of the stags moved suddenly, Lakar took off, and Ratok and the others ran after her in fear- she had run in the direction of a cliff. Lakar was frightened further by the pursuit, and none were able to stop her in time. Sickened with rage and grief, Ratok turned on the group, vastly outnumbered and never a fighter himself, and Riska lost both the love of her life and her dearest child that day.

Riska found no comfort in what was left of her family and fell into a depression. She was constantly disgusted by her herd members and took to wandering out away from the herd, until one day she found herself at Windwhisper Beach. The sight of the sea often brought her comfort, and the hidden coves would allow her time to be perfectly alone. She found a remote area where some of the rocks came together to form a small shelter, and stayed there for a few weeks, only leaving when necessary.

During one such trip, she came across a rather anxious looking group. Similar to her, this small group had grown weary of the politics, but rather than secluding themselves, they had decided to move on and try and find a new place to call home. Riska decided to join them, and together they began the swim towards Glenmore, calling upon the wind to guide them. It was a long, treacherous journey, and only Riska and one other doe made it to the other shore. She traveled with the doe, Rihi'yaki, for some time, and the two became friends.

On their own, exploring these alien lands, Riska began to feel more herself, something she had never dreamed possible. They had haunted the edges of the verdant expanse of Glenmore lands, avoiding the patrols and staying away from trouble, and eventually made their way through the mountains into the dark and dangerous lands of Blackwood. Rihi'yaki didn't like the bleak land, but while journeying through the pine forests, they found themselves in the right place at the right time and came to the aid of two lost fawns, a Blackwood who had escaped an Oakfern captor, and, surprisingly, a Windborn who had fled, and had been trying to find his way back to the herd to learn about the magic that he was developing. Both Rihi'yaki and Riska were skilled with herbs, and after returning the wayward Blackwood, they were allowed to stay at the edge of the herd after taking place in the coming-of-age-ritual, helping where they could, and teaching the young Windborn, Merilindir, about his magic there so he would not have to chance the crossing again at such a young age. When the next fall rolled around, Merilindir was ready to move on and return to see his friends, the family that had helped him back in Silverthorn, the two does decided to accompany him, having no desire to stay around the large stags during the rut, despite their respect for does, and Rihi'yaki was loath to winter there with its thick snows.

They didn't stay long in Silverthorn, and Rihi'yaki wanted to return to the lush Glenmore outskirts. Deciding to take a different route and see new sights, they unwisely chose to travel along the predator laden Oakfern border. Things seemed to be going in their favor in the beginning, and they found themselves traveling with a small group of exiled Oakfern herbalists for a time, exchanging information on plant lore as they leisurely went. One of the stags became close with Riska, and come spring she found herself to be pregnant, something she had never dreamed would happen to her again. The father, uninterested in a crossbred fawn, left with his herdmates, leaving the two Windborn does on their own once more.

With renewed motivation, they traveled towards Glenmore, not wanting to have a small fawn traveling with them through the predator filled Oakfern and Blackwood lands. It seemed that they were making good time, until they were almost through crossing the Warrens and found themselves being stalked by a mountain lion. In trying to loose their pursuer, they attracted a herd of wolves. With danger ahead and behind them, the two does tried to fight their way through, hopeless though the situation was, and managed to hold off long enough for a Blackwood patrol to recognize them and come to their aid. For Rihi'yaki, however, it was too late, and she was unable to survive her wounds.

Falling into depression once more after the loss of her only friend, she went with the patrol back towards their herd. Riska had been wounded herself, and while she healed, the stress proved too much for her fawn, who was born stillborn. Further weakened, and falling further into her depression, there were times Riska tried to just wander into the woods to let the predators end what they had begun, but one of the healers whom she had met in her first stay and befriended had taken responsibility for her, and the bay stag kept her safe, both from the dangers and from herself.

Another year passed, and Riska was becoming herself again, and had once more become pregnant, this time to the bay healer, bay like her fallen Ratok, _____*. The colt was born healthy, and they named him Demur. Not long after Demur's birth, one of the guards who had saved her, Falakee, came to her for a favor in return for that rescue- he was responsible for a colt himself, and for reasons he wouldn't elaborate on, the mother was out of the picture- Riska was to nurse this colt, Blaze. She accepted, and raised the two colts together. The two gave her a purpose, beyond helping others with her knowledge of herbs. Her herbalism gave her something to offer to the herd she was staying with, but it didn't fulfill her like caring for a family did.

She stayed with the herd for a few years. Blaze grew closer to his father, and Demur became more independent. The wanderlust called her name once more, and her thoughts turned to Rihi'yaki. She grew unable to shake the ghost of her friend, and decided to go to Glenmore once more, and see the land that Rihi had so loved. She left, but found the land much changed since she had been there many years ago. There were more guards she had to evade, and they all seemed taunt with tension. A tension she recognized all too well, and wanted no part of. But she also found herself unable to turn around. She never saw herself returning to her once home, Windborn, though she wondered what had become of the family she had left behind, her parents, her sister. But how could she face those cruel cliffs that took her Lakar from her, see the glade where she had met Ratok, walk along the beach where she had crossed paths with Rihi? And there was no way for her to tell what the political climate was- had peace taken the herd, or was there still that toxic environment? No, she couldn't make her way further north. But neither could she bring herself to go back south- back to the black Blackwood forest? The other option would be to go along the Warrens, but that was where Rihi had died, where her nameless fawn had been sentenced to death, and where the cruel Oakfern stag had used her and left her. Unable to face any of these decisions, she remained where she was.


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