History

My friends believe it's a good idea that I have a diary, for some reason. I can't see what damage it'd make, since it helps me practice my writing...

Anyway, I suppose I should start with my story so far.

I was born in the East, in a small village in the scavenger lands. I probably would have lived a fairly normal life were it not for... them. When I was... 4, almost 5 years old, my village was attacked by a band of slavers. Many of the villagers were caught; others... died there, my parents between them.

I was a stupid kid though. I didn't know when to keep my mouth shut. I tried to act as if I was not scared, and only managed to anger the slavers. Finally, one of them decided to shut me up permanently... he slit my throat.

I would have surely died there had my life not been saved by somebody else. In their camp, was a Dragon-blood... a wood aspect. She was angry that the man had done something so foolish, and saved my life with her Charms. My throat was cured, my life saved, but... well, I would never speak again.

She punished the man heavily after that. Oh, she insisted that she didn't wish to see a young and possibly precious slave go to waste, but I think different. What is the life of one slave? It hurts me to say it's not much, not to them... I like to believe that she saved my life because she felt pity and was outraged at a kid getting her throat slit like that, but... what do I know?

Less than a year later, I was sold to house Cynis. I had already heard stories of the ... excesses that this house has, and that the ways they treated the slaves was inhuman, and... well, I was very scared then. The worse part is, I'm not sure if the stories that were told were exaggerations. The few months I spent there would have been dedicated in breaking me further had I been not already very broken by my... incident. Still, a young, mute slave... I remember hearing someone saying something about using me for other things...

... But... I was not there all that long. I broke down crying one day, and one of the Cynis dragged me over to the head of the household, Cynis Lincala, to decide what to finally do with me. She was apparently not having a good day either... she had just doubled a debt she had to another house, Cathak. I'm sure I wouldn't have lived past that day, if...

... If Mistress Cathak Andoria hadn't been there. It was to her that Lincala owed the money. Mistress Andoria was... beautiful, maybe a bit cold, but then she looked at me, and... she said to Lincala that she would forgive half of the debt in exchange for me.

I was a mute kid, too young to be of any use for the Cynis. Lincala readily agreed.

Mistress Andoria took me away, to her house. I was still somewhat scared, but not to the level I had been before. Once in her home, she sat down in the first chair she could find, and stared at me. She asked what my name was... I could only point to my neck. She nodded, and then said that my name would be Silent Light. Then she said that she didn't keep any slaves, so she would release me... and offered me work as a servant of the house instead.

How could I say no?

My life took a turn for the better then. The only other people in the household were the other servants, mistress Andoria's daughter, and her tutors. I understand that her husband had died not too long ago...

Now, mistress Andoria's daughter... her name is Lenna, Cathak Lenna. She was only a bit older than me... maybe a year or so. She was also delighted in having another child in the house, so suddenly lots of my duties involved cleaning her room and things and bringing food to her... Miss Lenna was cheerful, and an energetic talker. She talked to me about everything, about how her lessons were going, on whether a tutor was annoying or not... I could only nod or shake my head in reply, of course.

It actually took her a couple of weeks to realize that I was mute. She was annoyed at this, and set to help me be able to communicate again. As it turns out, one of her tutors was familiar with sign language, and taught it to her and to me. I learned it quickly, eager to be able to express myself properly again. It became something like a game for her and me to have secret sign conversations... at least until mistress Andoria discovered this, and decided that it'd be something handy to have in the household. Soon, every servant could use this language.

Now, my duties... well, they mostly involved housekeeping and helping in the kitchens, but I also learned how to actually cook while I grew up, but not before somebody very special showed up in the house.

About a year or so before Miss Lenna was to leave for Primary School, we got a visit. A huge dragon-blooded, fire aspect, came to the house. He was somewhat rough, but had a good natured air about him, and he said he wanted to see mistress Andoria. When he did... the first thing he did was call her a monster.

In the very first time I had seen mistress Andoria annoyed, she picked up a vase and tossed it at his head, smashing it (the vase). The dragon-blooded didn't really look very hurt, and he even laughed, finally calling Andoria 'little sister'.

His name is Cathak Namo, and he's one of mistress Andoria's older brothers, and a former legionnaire too. It was something of a game for him and mistress Andoria to annoy each other, apparently. Oh, and Miss Lenna adored him.

Then things got weird. During a dinner, master Namo was talking about how he could train anybody to be an excellent soldier. Mistress Andoria called him a liar. He got angry (in that silly way of his when he's not really serious) and demanded her to give him somebody to train, and he's show her. She said yes.

And who, besides Miss Lenna, was the youngest person in the house?

He said I was perfect, because a kid learned faster and better and would be quite strong when I grew up. So my life got pretty lively.

While some of my duties were relaxed so I could concentrate on this training, not all of them were. In fact, master Namo insisted that I took -everything- as training... so why I got less work time, I had to work doubly as fast and carry double as much.

... I'm not complaining, actually. Before I even knew it, I -was- stronger and hardier. Master Namo also discovered that xIxmxambid--xabi--xambisex--x that I could use both hands pretty well, so he began training me to use two weapons; daggers at first, short swords later.

He also taught me how to read and write, because, as he said, even a good warrior should be educated enough to do that. This resulted in mistress Andoria calling him on it again, and another discussion... I cannot fault her for it, really; master Namo's handwriting is horrible. He also began to teach me High Realm (mistress Andoria actually helped a bit with this, on his challenge. She's not as fun as master Namo is, but is very smart).

I didn't grow -much-... I'm afraid I'm still pretty small, but I did get stronger and tougher and faster. I also became a better cook those days... master Namo had some pretty odd ideas about training in the kitchen, but they were surprisingly effective. My final test came when I had to fight a soldier in a straight, non-lethal fight... and I won. It was not easy, but I won.

Mistress Andoria quietly and gracefully accepted her defeat. Master Namo didn't seem to like the way she had so nonchalantly done so. Heh.

After this, we went to visit Miss Lenna at school... and we also got to see her Exalt there, into an Air aspect just like mistress Andoria. It was beautiful... and a little frightening, perhaps.

Exaltation

My life was not bad at all. Maybe somewhat tough, but it was good. I guess destiny likes to throw surprises at me though...

It was Miss Lenna's third year in the Spiral Academy. Due to some sort of scandal, however, classes were dismissed for a week. So, Miss Lenna took this time to socialize... parties and such. Me and master Namo escorted her to and from the parties, under the request of mistress Andoria... as it turns out, there was a reason for this.

Mistress Andoria had managed to make some enemies within the Thousand Scales. One of said enemies apparently decided to teach her a lesson, via her daughter. One night, returning home, we found ourselves ambushed by a group of assassins... three of them, at least, were Dragon-blooded as well. Two held master Namo off (and one of them quickly paid for it), while the other rushed Miss Lenna, leaving me to deal with the ones that were left.

My first real battle, life and death... I was paralyzed, my two enemies easily outmaneuvering me. Master Namo was trying to get to Miss Lenna, but his remaining opponent was quite tough, and... and then I saw the assassin lifts his blade to kill Miss Lenna, who wasn't much of a fighter...

... and something snapped.

Suddenly, it was as if the world was moving in slow motion for me. I moved between my two rivals, and cut them down as I did so. I sliced the back of master Namo's rival, because he was in the way, and I reached the assassin, even as he was lowering the blade, and... and I killed him. I just killed him. I won't describe how... it was pretty gruesome.

And when I calmed down, I just saw the stunned expression on master Namo's and Miss Lenna's faces. Then I noticed I was glowing. I remembered the stories about Anathema... and I panicked and ran away.

I found myself in a port town... and I hid. I was scared, I though I had been possessed by a demon, and I knew that soon I would be hunted down and killed. I didn't want that... I just wanted to go back home now...

But the Wyld Hunt didn't find me... Rio did.

On Solars

Rio is western woman, a sailor, and a Zenith. She found me, scared and startled, and took me away. She told me that I was a Night caste, the eyes of the sun. I didn't quite know what to believe at first... but she has this charm about her, a way to talk to people that makes me certain that she can't be a demon... besides, I'm feeling stronger now, but not really any different.

I belong to a Perfect Circle now.

Rio is the Zenith. She sometimes jokes that she's not fit for being one, and that she'd be more fit to being a Dawn, but she's wrong. She can -really- reach people with her words, and is a natural leader... she's kinda simple, but then again I think the only ones that aren't are our Eclipse and our Twilight... and she's so friendly I can't really refer to her as miss.

Miss Nilla is our Dawn... a fierce barbarian of the North. She's kinda scary, but really strong. The only stronger person around is Rio, but I think even she would lose to Miss Nilla in a straight fight.

Miss Tal'na is an Eclipse, and she's from the South. She's very smart and really curious about everything.

And the last one our Twilight... err, well, she's a Cynis. Cynis Byanka, to be precise. I'm not very comfortable around her still, but she seems genuinely sorry about me having been a Cynis slave... it seems she has no love for her family either. She said she would look for a way to restore my voice... I wonder if it's possible though.

I'm the Night. I'm only afraid that I'm not very good... also, since I'm so small, the others assume I'm a kid, and thus are kind of overprotective... however, I'm also the only one that can actually cook, which is good or we'd have to subsist on a diet of fish and roasted meat, which are the only things Rio and miss Nilla can do..

I love being with them, though. I don't get along too well with Miss Byanka, but I have seen the things she can do with medicine now, and I like that. Miss Nilla is a bit scary, maybe, but she's so strong and courageous that I can't help but admiring her. Miss Tal'na is a great friend, and a cheerful person who is fun to be around with. And Rio...

... Rio is strong and brave, and while she could probably kill anything that got in her path without much trouble, she -doesn't-... I've yet to see her take a human life, even of those who hunt us so badly. She's incredible, I'm happy to call her the leader of our circle. I wouldn't have it any other way. I think it's safe to say that without her, we would fall apart.

I haven't -seen- many other Solars, beyond those in my Circle... but I hear that some are great and noble, and others are just like the tales of the Anathema depict them. I guess there's a truth in every story...

On Dragon-Blooded

... so, the other people I have probably interacted the most besides mortals and my friends... um... well, it'd have to be Dragon Blooded.

Miss Nilla doesn't like them at all, and is very vocal about this. Miss Byanka... it's odd seeing her talk about them so harshly, since she's basically family to them. Miss Tal'na had no opinion one way or the other, and I don't think Rio can bring herself to hate anybody, but she doesn't care too much about them either.

So it... leaves me in a weird spot.

I have seen the nasty Dragon-Blooded. Most of house Cynis that I remember still makes me shudder. Tales of despots and bullies and even those assassins that attacked us that night... I would have many reasons to hate the dragon-blooded, but...

... But then there was the woman who saved my life... mine, of a little dying worthless girl. And then there's mistress Andoria, and Miss Lenna, and Master Nero... with Dragon-blooded like them, I can't bring myself to judge them all badly.

Much like anybody, they are all different people, some better than others, so I have to judge them by how each of them are. I'm probably the friendliest to Dragon-Blooded in my circle, but I won't defend one who is corrupt or tyrannical.

But if anybody wants to hurt Miss Lenna (mistress Andoria and master Namo can take care of themselves), they will have to answer to my blades.

On Abyssals

Later in the diary

This day was frightening. And unsettling.

I accompanied Miss Tal'na into a Shadowland... in secret, mostly. She wanted to make some sort of deal with the people there. Rio won't go anywhere near a Shadowland (not because she's scared but because she'd end up making some things very angry at her), so it was up to Miss Tal'na.

Still, I saw her discussing with a shadownight, a pretty ugly man in dark armor, from afar... and then I noticed -her-.

She was standing only a couple of feet away from me, staring at me intently and curiously. She was young... older and taller than me, maybe, but young nonetheless. She was also thin and wiry and her skin was so pale and her eyes and hair black... and she was wearing a black silk scarf around her neck.

She didn't say anything... I now wonder if she was mute too. She just looked at me curiously, and finally reached across and brushed a finger across my cheek, making me jump back. I think this satisfied her, because she grinned and leapt away. Thankfully, Miss Tal'na finished her deals quickly and we left...

... It doesn't sound too frightening, does it? I'll tell you what the frightening thing is.

That girl? It was almost like staring at myself if I served the Deathlords and was not a Solar. And this thought frightens me. A lot.

Maybe I'll tell Rio about it later...

Personality

Silent Light, being mute, tends to be rather shy when interacting with people she doesn't know the first time. However, not being able to speak doesn't stop her from being expressive at all. Silent Light's "speech" consists mostly in flailing her arms and mimicking things, but if this fails, she quickly takes a piece of paper and whatever writing implement she has at hand (charcoal, most of the time) and writing as quickly as possible. Her handwriting is actually very clear and straightforward... no point in making people more confused.

Silent Light -also- keeps a card handy with her name written on it, just so she doesn't have to write it over and over again. Another card reads "I'm mute", for those people that are too thickheaded to get it.

When surrounded by friends, Silent Light is cheerful. She is -fiercely- loyal to the people she cares for, and doesn't forget favors or deeds done for her. In fact, she gets very frustrated when she cannot find a way to repay these favors, because she only knows how to do three things well: fighting, housekeeping, and cooking. Most people ignore the first one because of her size, and she has trouble with the second because of the same thing.

Silent Light is also awfully submissive around people of obvious higher station... as long as said people are dignified and actually nice. Having been a servant for so many years, she knows ways to keep those in higher station pleased... or make herself invisible to them. This attitude tends to frustrate her circlemates (especially the Dawn), but old habits die hard. She follows orders to the letter... or to the best of her ability, when that fails.

Despite being a good fighter, Silent Light really doesn't enjoy it. She prefers peaceful days and spending them with her friends. However, people that threaten her friends and those she cares for will find themselves finding a small but very vicious girl.

Appearance

Silent Light is not all that impressive to look at. She's a very small, wiry girl, who is often confused for a little kid. Her hair is a sandy blonde and her large eyes are green. Her clothes are usually grey or black (she prefers yellow, but it's not a very good color to hide), and are meant for mobility first of all. Finally, she usually wears a choker on her neck... failing that, something else to cover the nasty scar that she has there.

She's fairly pretty, if nothing of the other world. When in the presence of strangers of obvious higher stature, she tends to adopt a humble stance. Among her friends, she's upbeat and friendly... you'd sometimes swear she's able to speak perfectly.

Character Sheet

Name: Silent Light
Concept: Mute, former slave and servant
Player:
Nature: Follower
Caste: Night
Anima: A great snake

PHYSICAL
Strength: 3
Dexterity: 5
Stamina: 4

SOCIAL
Charisma: 3
Manipulation: 1
Appearance: 3

MENTAL
Perception: 4
Intelligence: 3
Wits: 4

DAWN
(x)Melee: 4

ZENITH
(x)Endurance: 3
(x)Resistance: 3
Survival: 1

TWILIGHT
(x)Craft: 3
Investigation: 1
Lore: 1

NIGHT
(x)Athletics: 4
(x)Awareness: 3
(x)Dodge: 4
(x)Stealth: 4

ECLIPSE
Linguistics: 2
(x)Socialize: 2

BACKGROUNDS
Allies: 3
Artifact: 4
Resources: 1

CHARMS

Name | Cost (Ability)

Willpower: 6

VIRTUES: Compassion: 3 Temperance: 2 Conviction: 2 Valor: 2

Virtue Flaw: Heart of Tears

Essence: 2 Personal: 12|12 Peripheral: 29|29

Health: 0x1, -1x2, -2x4, -4, I

Soak (B/L): 3/1

Craft: House working (1), Cooking (2)

Linguistics: Low Realm (The one the servants spoke). High Realm (the ones her masters spoke). Sign Language (Everybody in her old Household knows this, and mute people that know similar languages likely do as well). (Silent Light -used- to speak Riverspeak, but she forgot it a while back as she simply stopped using it at all).

Merits:

Ambidextrous (1), Double Jointed (1): Despite being tiny and slim, Silent Light has proved to be quite able with both hands, as well as able to contort in ways some people can't.

Lucky (1): While she would deny this, -somebody- likes Silent Light up there. Yes, she has been in much trouble... but she often and quickly got to a better life, somehow.

Flaws:

Mute (4): Silent Light's throat was slashed out when she was a child, and while her life was saved, her vocal chords were damaged beyond repair. While it's possible that solar medicine could cure her, she has no high hopes for this.

Small (3): Silent Light is -tiny-, for some reason she cannot comprehend. This annoys her, especially since people tend to look at her like a child and thus be kinda overprotective. She barely reaches the 4'5 of height, and that's counting her ponytail.

Expanded Backgrounds

Allies: 3
While Silent Light now has her Circle, she has allies beyond them. Lenna and Namo are not quite willing to believe that she just become a monster like the texts say, and they'd be receptive to learn what has happened. Even Andoria is not very quick to judge her.

The result is that, should she need it, Silent Light will find help within her old home… As long, of course, as she continues proving herself to not be like the Anathema history talks about.

For her part, Silent Light is convinced she's in love with Lenna and Namo both. Her friend might reciprocate. Her mentor would be freaked out.

Artifact: 4
Silent Light possesses two fairly nasty orihalcum wave daiklaves. It's rather odd seeing her swinging these two large (for her) weapons for her without much trouble, but she can be pretty deadly with them.

These Daiklaves are twins and they are called, according to the glyphs in them, Sand King and Light Queen. Sand King seems to have some sort of reaction when near sand (especially desert sand), but Silent Light can't guess what it is. Light Queen can, at command, glow in darkness like a torch (which -can- be handy but not always convenient for a Night).

These Daiklaves work best when paired, and remove any off-hand penalties Cal may have with them. They otherwise work like Hooked Daiklaves of Dual Prowess (see Caste Book: Night, page 81), and each has a setting for a Hearthstone in them.

She found these weapons not in an incredible and exiting adventure... actually, she found them entirely by accident, when she tripped and fell in the sand when she, Rio, and Nilla were in the south, just before meeting Tal'na. When she pulled herself to her feet and saw what had tripped her, she found the twin blades just laying there. Nilla was suspicious, but Rio thought it was a good omen.

(These Daiklaves are actuallyTiffa/SilentLight/TheFaithfulTwinsOfTheMightySouth, but none of them actually know this as the blades are dormant. Awakening them will require a trip to the further south... which will not be anytime soon, if Nilla has anything to say about it.)

(Speed +4, Accuracy +3, Damage +5L, Defense +2, Minimum STR 2)

Resources: 1
With the help of her Circle, Silent Light has some goods and money with her. It's not much at all, but it keeps her fed and warm at night.

Tiffa/SilentLight

Contents

History

Exaltation

On Solars

On Dragon-Blooded

On Abyssals

Personality

Appearance

Character Sheet

Expanded Backgrounds

Comments

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