Description
The woman before you is not particularly muscular, but that does not stop her
from keeping her hand gripped tightly around her weapon. She is of average
height and build, and her seemingly random assortment of cloths, leathers,
and leaves accentuate the curves of her body. She has clearly spent much of
her life outdoors: her deeply tanned skin is peppered with freckles and
moles, and her mousy brown hair has a bleached, golden shine to it that
makes her knotted braid appear to be even thicker than it is. A rosy hue
inundates her round cheeks, which is matched by the shade of her chapped,
upturned lips. Her hazel eyes gleam with determination, yet the ever-present
slight furrowing of her brow speaks to a sadness that seems out of place in
her otherwise blithe expression. A small gourd, worn down by time yet sturdy
nonetheless, hangs by her side on a thin rope, bouncing against her thigh as
she moves.
Role
The First Ceremony
Added Wed Jun 5 21:01:42 2024 at level 6:
The sound of beating drums rang through the circle, cutting through the crisp night air.
Boom, buh-boom. Boom, buh-boom.
Xiogana's chubby palms, smooth and untested by the stress of time, beat against a small
gourd in her best attempt to mimic the rhythm.
Boom, buh-boom.
The child sat surrounded by people of all ages, their bodies swaying and their mouths
moving in silent chants to accompany the striking of the gourds. The mossy mounds on
which they sat formed a perfect circle around a stone altar draped in vines and fruit.
A lone woman stood by the altar. Her head bowed and her palms stretched towards the
earth, she began to sing in a low, haunting voice. She lifted her hands to the sky, and
her music grew louder and higher. The peoples' chants raised in volume. The beating of
the gourds grew faster.
Boom buh-boom. Boom buh-boom. Boom buh-boom.
Reaching the climax of her song, the woman at the altar let out a series of
piercing shrieks, and suddenly all fell silent.
Several minutes passed, and the woman's posture relaxed as she began to speak
to something unseen. The gourds resumed their resonant tones and Xiogana happily
let her attention drift to the instrument in front of her.
After some time the night fell to silence once more, and the woman turned from
the altar and walked towards Xiogana.
The child's face broke into an infectious smile at the approach of her mother.
"Maele!" she exclaimed, letting her gourd fall as she scrambled to her feet.
"How was your first Spiritwalking ceremony, Xiogana?" the woman asked, embracing the girl.
"It was good. Your hair's pretty."
The woman laughed and brushed a strand away from the unshaved side of her head.
"Thank you."
"She did very well," one of the women sitting next to Xiogana said. "She seemed to have
a natural instinct for the gourd."
"I have no doubt!" The child's mother beamed a smile towards her daughter and knelt
down to meet her eyeline. "One day," she said softly, "you will be the next Spiritwalker.
One day you will speak with our ancestors."
"And then my hair can be pretty like yours?"
She laughed once more. "Yes, dear girl."
Travesty Strikes
Added Wed Jun 5 21:15:13 2024 at level 6:
It was several years later when Xiogana awoke to the boom of thunder and heavy
rain. A storm! The day would be spent in prayer.
She sat up, intending to make her way to the circle of stones, only to fall back
to the ground with a groan. The sharp pain shooting through her abdomen was unlike
any she had felt before.
Xiogana's mother hurried over, concerned. "Are you alright? Would you like some tea?"
She always infused her tea with herbs. It had not yet failed to cure Xiogana of any
ailment.
The child nodded. "Yes, Maele. Thank you."
As her mother hurried away, Xiogana felt a strange sensation between her legs.
Carefully she reached underneath her skirt until she felt a gooey substance. She
stared at her fingers, stupefied.
"Praised be Sennoseri!"
Her mother's voice jolted her out of her reverie. The woman's face was enveloped
by a beaming smile as she set a mug in her daughter's clean hand.
"You're a woman now, Xiogana."
The girl kept her eyes fixed on the blood coating her fingertips. "A woman," she
whispered. Then, wide-eyed, she turned her gaze towards her mother. "A woman!
That means-?"
Her mother laughed and nodded, embracing her daughter. "Yes, Xiogana! We will
begin your training soon. But not now. Come, we must pray."
Travesty Strikes (2)
Added Wed Jun 5 21:29:59 2024 at level 6:
The ceremony itself was beautiful, Xiogana thought. Dozens of men and women
circled around the altar, arms linked, voices raised in unison in worship of
their goddess. Heaps of herbs and fruits set aflame, smoke rising to the skies
as a natural incense.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the shout of an unfamiliar voice.
She turned to see a group of men dressed in an absurd amount of black metal,
an unfamiliar crest blazing from their chestpieces. They seemed to speak, but
Xiogana did not understand their language. Only a single word caught her attention:
Rillan.
A collective gasp rose from the ring of people surrounding the altar.
The men seemed to be encouraged. "Rillan!" they repeated, mimicking the motions
of what Xiogana could only imagine to be their form of prayer.
The child's mother stepped forward from the ring. "Sennoseri," she said, gesturing
towards the altar.
The next few moments were all a blur to the young girl. Swords were drawn, warcries
were shouted, prayers were uttered. Xiogana's mother shoved her behind the altar,
where she huddled down and frantically covered her eyes and ears. Screams filled the
air and she desperately tried to focus on the sound of the rain.
She dared not open her eyes until she felt a gloved hand cup her chin in its grasp.
Terrified, she stared into the pair of grey eyes in front of her own. They were
unflinchingly cold, examining her with a greedy gaze that sent shivers down her spine.
The man stood to his feet and barked an order. Two hands grabbed Xiogana and dragged
her to her feet, and despite her kicks and punches she could not escape their grasp.
Then, suddenly, she caught sight of a woman on the ground. Blood and other innards spilt
from a gaping wound in her chest, and her mouth was frozen in an expression of
surprise and pain. One half of her head was shaved. It was Xiogana's mother.
The child wailed in agony. A chorus of voices howled in response: "We will always
be with you, Xiogana!"
"But life is beautiful!"
Added Wed Jun 5 21:37:25 2024 at level 6:
Xiogana stood at the edge of the deck, watching the dark waters lap against the side
of the ship. The waves looked so calm, so welcoming. It would be so peaceful to join
them, she thought, her body drifting through the currents with no worries and no
troubles. How easy it would be to let herself fall!
"Life is beautiful, Xiogana," the spirit by her side whispered in her ear. "Don't
throw it away."
She drew her shawl tighter around her shoulders and stepped back from the railing.
The spirits were right, of course. They were always right.
A sharp tap on the arm brought her back to the physical world. A young soldier,
hardly several years older than Xiogana herself, stood behind her, black armor
glistening int he sun.
One of the Empire's trainees, she thought bitterly. No doubt he was conditioned
since infancy to believe the Imperial was right to bring civilization to people
such as herself, raised eons away from any semblance of empires.
"The Captain wishes to see you," the boy said simply.
Xiogana nodded wordlessly and shuffled towards the main hutch, pausing momentarily
in front of a cracked mirror to let down her thick hair. The captain liked her hair
down, covering every inch of her face like an oppressive cage. He also liked her
smile. Conscientiously she forced her lips into a small, upward-tilting curve.
As she rapped on the door leading to the captain's apartments, she steeled herself
for what was to come. Sometimes he was nice about it: they might talk for a bit, or
he might teach her a few phrases in this Common language, before he made her touch
him. Other days he was more brutal. More than once he had opened the door already
naked, fondling her body before she had time to realize what was happening.
The door opened and he grabbed her by the wrist, quickly pulling her into the room.
She kept her smile plastered onto her face and closed her eyes, wishing it was as
easy to shut out all of her thoughts.
Escape
Added Wed Jun 5 21:48:02 2024 at level 6:
She spent four years on the Empire's ship before the opportunity for escape presented
itself, passing the time in prayer to Sennoseri and conversations with the spirits.
These were the two joys that the Empire could not strip from her.
"Maele," Xiogana asked her spirit companion, "What is this moss? Do you know?"
The cellar-like hutch that the girl slept in had been growing a purple, slimy coating
over the past several moons, and it was starting to get on the girl's nerves.
"It heals like my tea, dear girl," her mother's spirit replied. "But be careful, too
much can kill."
"Oh can it?" she replied, doing her best to appear nonchalant. The spirit was not fooled.
"Xiogana!" it chastised. "Whatever you are thinking, do not do it. Life is beautiful."
The girl turned to face the ethereal figure. "It is," she agreed. "And once I escape I
will dedicate my own life to fostering such beauty. But I cannot do that here."
Stooping down, she carefully scraped a cluster of the moss into her hand. "Do you think
this would be enough?"
The spirit's face contorted into a face of disappointment. "We cannot help you with this,
Xiogana."
And for the first time since the fateful day of Xiogana's capture, the spirits departed
from the child.
Xiogana paused for a moment, a chord of doubt striking her heart. Was she really
going to kill? Could she really bring herself to destroy the life that she was taught
to cherish so dearly?
Then a voice boomed down into the hatch: "Hey, girl! The Captain wants to see you!"
She hardened her resolve and grabbed yet another handful of moss.
*****
First, she poisoned the captain. Soon after, the members of the crew began to drop. When
the remaining sailors pulled into port to bring on an emergency doctor, Xiogana poisoned
him too - and then she fled.
She ran for what felt like days. She bolted out of the city where the ship was docked,
darted across a well-traveled road, and made her way into a vast plain, until at last
she collapsed in the shade of a sycamore tree.
"Maele, I know you're here. I can feel you," she said. Any bystander would have
thought she was speaking to empty air. "I made a promise and I will keep it. I will
take care of the beauty of life."
And kneeling by the altar, she began to pray.
Summaries and character notes
Added Wed Jun 5 21:54:28 2024 at level 6:
Chapter 1:
Xiogana watches her mother complete the Spiritwalking ceremony, and learns that she will
be able to communicate with the dead as well.
Chapters 2-3:
She gets her first period, indicating womanhood, and is about to begin her Spiritwalking
training when the Empire invades her island, murdering all except for her. She is taken
captive.
Chapter 4:
Xiogana wants to commit suicide, but the spirits talk her out of it. She is routinely raped
by her captors.
Chapter 5:
Against the wishes of the spirits, Xiogana poisons nearly everyone on the ship and makes
her escape to Sennoseri's shrine. She promises to care for life instead of death.
Xiogana:
- is not a native Common/English speaker, so will sometimes speak "incorrectly"
- has a lot of sexual trauma, so will be wary around male characters, and flirtatious
around female characters
- hates Empire and will seek to join the Outlanders
- has a lot of guilt from killing her captors; so will try very hard to justify death
Updates
Added Wed Jul 17 18:02:03 2024 at level 51:
On becoming Sunwarden:
- Xiogana views herself as big sister to the Wardens (and to a lesser extent
the other branches)
- she is driven to protect and strengthen the younger Outlanders
- she will aid and (try to) mentor them all, even Reavers if they're nice
On Good enemies:
- she wants to understand their perspectives and try to teach them about Thar-Eris
- she tries to walk a fine line between being nice to them and not supporting them,
often erring on the side of niceness
A new perspective on morality:
- she used to view morality through a black-and-white lens, assuming that if you're
Good you were good and if you were Evil you were wicked
- her time spent fighting Morphul, talking with dwarves/paladins/azures, and getting
to know Reavers gave her a more nuanced view:
- she realizes that she has just as much in common with the Reavers as she does
non-Outlander lightwalkers
- she is now more loyal to the Tree than to morality
- she will still avoid hunting lightwalkers, even in raids
Dancing with the Devil
Added Wed Jul 17 18:08:54 2024 at level 51:
You tell Thathrosk 'It is no special thing to be bitten by vampyre. Is wicked,
horrid thing!'
Thathrosk tells you 'Well, perhaps you'll come to like it.'
Thathrosk tells you 'We'll put our best effort towards you.'
You tell Thathrosk 'That will go both way, yes.'
Thathrosk tells you 'I am glad, relationships take work.'
You tell Thathrosk 'Only relationship we have is one of enemy.'
Thathrosk tells you 'Well, perhaps you will change your mind on that.'
***
Xiogana was appalled when Thathrosk successfully navigated the thralls of necromancy
and transcended into an undead form; but she was even more appalled upon realizing
that, between their attempts to slay each other, he was a shameless flirt.
She was disgusted by his new form even more than by his former guild and would never
consider coupling with him as he so egregiously desired ("A kiss, perhaps?" he asked
her when they briefly crossed paths in the Underdark). Yet despite this repulsion, a
morbid curiosity filled her soul and drew her ever nearer to the vampyre. She couldn't
fathom how the two of them saw death so differently, or how they had such different
definitions of beauty. And although she never saw herself abandoning the tenets of Sennoseri
and Thar-Eris, she found herself wondering how Thathrosk could. So, she played along.
"Why, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were chasing me," she told him when he
began a raid on the Tree.
"Maybe I am," he replied.
She knew it was a dangerous game to play. But she wanted answers, and she was willing
to put on a show to get them.
PK Wins
Jul 6, 2024 |Lv 48|The Fields of Balator|Mognarl vs 1: [48] Xiogana (100%, torments)
Jul 14, 2024|Lv 51|The Dragon Sea|Oriphn vs 1: [51] Xiogana (100%, KB)
Jul 15, 2024|Lv 51|Kuo-Toa Lair|Oriphn vs 1: [51] Xiogana (100%, slash)
Jul 19, 2024|Lv 51|The Spire of the Blood Tribunal|Trecildroon vs 2: [51] Xiogana (12%), [51] Carayak (87%, pierce)
Jul 19, 2024|Lv 51|The Eastern Road|Trecildroon vs 2: [51] Thathrosk (56%), [51] Xiogana (43%, torments)
Jul 21, 2024|Lv 51|Forest of Prosimy|Relliq vs 2: [51] Xiogana (7%), [51] Carayak (92%, hit)
Jul 26, 2024|Lv 51|The Aryth Ocean|Oriphn vs 1: [51] Xiogana (100%, poison)
Jul 26, 2024|Lv 51|The Outlander Refuge|Hizvustel vs 1: [51] Xiogana (100%, KB)
Jul 26, 2024|Lv 51|The Outlander Refuge|Hizvustel vs 1: [51] Xiogana (0%, sunray)
Aug 1, 2024 |Lv 51|Glauruk Spawning Ground|Bidaj vs 1: [51] Xiogana (100%, stinging lash)