Dorchadas/TheGameDreamsoftheFirstAgeAshraielle
Ashraielle, Chosen of the Sun =
Ashraielle was born to the Black Flower sept of the Shenrae, a tribe that lived in the deep forests of the East. Most of the technology of the First Age was out of their reach because they lived so far away, though they did occasionally receive a caravan that passed through their area to buttress the border of Creation. Ashraielle was the child of the tribe's "face"--the individual responsible for conducting dealings with other tribes and with the cities to the west. It was expected that she would take up the responsibility of her father, and she did--but not in a way that anyone in her tribe would have expected.
When Ashraielle went to Meru after her Exaltation, she had a great deal to learn. She knew little of the politics of the Realm, the language she spoke was debased by distance and time, and she had never had any concerns beyond the safety of her tribe. As such, the Hierophant of that time assigned her to work in the East for the two centuries following her Exaltation. Ashraielle took to her task with great vigor, knowing that now she had the power to safeguard her tribe such as no one else could.
The first millennium of her life saw her at many tasks throughout Creation. She knew of her Circle, and they of her, but their correspondence was short and to the point. Ashraielle was, like Seventh Son, extremely devoted to her work. The dealings with the Fair Folk and rogue gods in her youth had left her with an appreciation of the importance of diplomacy, especially of its necessity to keep the people of Creation safe.
It was during the later part of this time that Maenin was elected Hierophant of the Deliberative, and Ashraielle was summoned to work in Meru. She felt in love almost instantly with Maenin, who she had spoken with before only briefly and mostly about work. They had a short relationship, which they kept secret from others--it would have been unseemly for the Hierophant to break tradition so far as to marry a Solar. Little did Ashraielle know that Maenin was already married to a Lunar--named Hikari--and she was devestated when he broke off the relationship and assigned her to the northern border of Creation, far away from Meru. It was there that she turned to her other Circlemates and began to develop friendships with them. She also met the Lunar Alaethis, whom she married to spite Maenin. It would not prove to be one of her wisest decisions. It is true that she felt an attraction for Alaethis, but it was an attraction born out of shattered desire and hurt, and such things never come to good ends.
Ashraielle was also one of the most beautiful women in Creation. She was constantly having to fend off suitors and artists and people who just wanted to look at her, which did not improve her attitude towards people any. It did, however, make her well suited to her final task, which was as emissary from the Deliberative to the Princes of Chaos. She was responsible for negotiating treaties with the Fair Folk and determining which of the Faerie who wished to live in Creation were worthy of such an honor. It was a monumental task, but one she took to well. Her memories of Fair Folk depredations from her youth were a great motivator.
The Great Curse
Ashraielle became more and more convinced that her way was right as the centuries passed. Initially, she had been almost entirely focused on compromise, but as the Curse took its inexorable effect, she began to consider the opinions of the others to be ill informed. She had spent centuries studying the way people interacted, and had a firm grasp of their wants and desires. Surely she knew more than they about what they actually wanted? Ashraielle knew that people often claimed to want things that they truly didn't, and were often dissatisfied with the results of their decisions. If they allowed people who were wiser than they to make their decisions for them, then their lives would be far more content.
Eventually, she came to believe that mortals were incapable of understanding what they wanted. Only through the guidance of those wiser and better than they could their lives come to a happy end, and often they were not even self-aware enough to realize that their lives were on the right track. In the end, she held mortals in contempt as weak-willed and unable to make any lasting decisions for themselves. She believed that they should accept any decisions their superiors handed down quietly and in full, and any mortal that didn't did not understand his true place and had to be made to understand--by death, if necessary.
Death
As an important functionary, Ashraielle did not have the luxury of missing the New Year's Day ceremony at Meru. She was there inside the Temple on the day of the Usurpation, and a warstrider arrow finally ended the life of the woman who had destroyed the lives of so many others.
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Behind the Scenes - Temptation
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