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Heeding the Sea's Call - Nerissa's Biography

The First Age

Early Years: The Blacksmith's Apprentice

Nerissa has felt the call of the seas since a very young age. But in her younger, mortal years she was earthbound, the daughter of a blacksmith mother and a trader father in the Wavecrest Archipelago. Traditionally, women are not allowed as sailors, so her parents insisted that she take over her mother's business while her father and brothers exported their goods across the seas.

Fortunately, Nerissa possessed what seemed to be a natural proclivity for armor and weaponsmithing. Even at a young age she was sturdy and strongly built like her mother, her arms as firmly muscled as any warrior-in-training from hours toiling daily at the forge. And she genuinely loved the craft, both the physical aspect which she found refreshing, as well as the aesthetics of design. But she never stopped yearning for those wide blue depths, for the rush of sea breeze through her windswept hair as she rides the waves and taunts the storms.

So she found every excuse she could to visit the docks when her duties at the forge allowed her the free time to do so. And when her father and brothers returned home from a voyage at sea, she was the first to rush out from their seaside home and shopfront to greet them -- if only for the chance to come close to the fine merchant vessel her father sailed, and experience for a time the swaying of the sea underneath its planks as she helped unload the goods they brought home.

As she grew older, though, her desire for the sea became a common source of argument between her and the other members of her family. They thought the desire improper of a woman, whose place is on the earth, contributing to hearth and home and community with the practices of farming, child-rearing, medicine and artisan crafts. It became more and more apparent to Nerissa over the years that she was an anomaly within her family and, indeed, within the idyllic coastal trading town they lived in. She would only find like-minded, sympathetic individuals among foreigners: the sailors, travelers and merchants who stopped off at their port to trade with locals or rest for a time.

In her later teenage years, she came to be known as a near-regular at the local tavern just beyond the docks, where she would persuade (most often with a drink or two) visiting patrons for tales of sea travel and its many beauties and dangers, as well as the myriad and fabulous locales beyond her island home. Most indulged her, of course, but the barkeep and the townsfolk who frequented such establishments were quietly disapproving, and word soon leaked out to her family of her evening activities. It only caused further strain on her relationship with her family, but she made up for it by working doubly hard in the forge during the day, to show them in her own silent way that they had little else to complain about.

Forging Her Own Path: Alcasta Nevermoor

One such evening, she came across an unusual but encouraging sight as she stepped into the tavern common room. A lady sailor in a sea-weathered longcoat, breeches and boots, drinking and laughing and swapping stories with the best of the men. Her name, Nerissa soon discovered, was Alcasta Nevermoor, and she was the captain of the Siren's Fancy, a coastal trader altered for speed and hull strength. Just from observation Nerissa could tell the men interacted with her with some trepidation and even barely veiled distaste, but nonetheless accorded her the same respect as any man of the sea, for she had weathered storms whose wrath had brought better men to a watery grave.

Alcasta was in fact one blessed by the Elemental Dragons, the Dragon-Blooded whose ranks swelled the glorious legions of the Solar Exalted who ruled from decadent, gilded spires on the Blessed Isle. She, of course, was born and raised in the Threshold, and gave allegiance to none but herself and those she deems worthy of her respect. But the power and influence of Danaa'd in her veins lended to her considerable talent at navigating at sea, and -- though she was more slender and slightly built than Nerissa -- her hardiness and ingenuity in hand-to-hand combat, both unarmed and otherwise. To the younger Nerissa, this woman was quite simply a role-model of what she herself dreamt of becoming.

But Alcasta did not take her under her wing immediately, much as Nerissa nearly begged for. She did sit down with her, though, and explained to her in frank and unembellished terms what it meant to serve as one of Alcasta's women -- they were neither traders nor fishermen nor soldiers, but self-styled mercenaries of the sea, who could both fight and sail and would serve as transport or guard or even smuggler for the right price. Some would even call them "pirates," if being a pirate meant liberating goods and treasure from the holds of wrecked and sunken ships, or taking from what vessels dared attack them and were fed to the depths in defeat. They lived by what fortune the winds of change would bring them, sought adventure where it would benefit them, provided protection for women seeking amnesty -- but never did they kill for the sake of killing, or for the sake of sating their greed. There were many opportunities, after all, in which the mighty sea herself would do such distasteful deeds in their stead, and much larger seafaring groups whose rivalries could lead to a conflict where one might pick her fortune from the loser.

After such a stirring speech Nerissa's eyes were aglow with adventure and opportunity -- but Alcasta was quick to warn her that life at sea would still be difficult and rigorous, even among a group of female peers. If she was simply following some selfish desire to rebel against her family, without thinking through the consequences of her actions, she would be both sorely disappointed and little but a dead weight to the crew. She would be expected to learn the ropes, and learn them quickly, and would be taught how to defend herself both physically and socially, when it came to interacting with groups that looked with mistrust or distaste upon women who could sail. For it was just as important, Alcasta reminded her, that they create for themselves a favorable reputation at the ports they dock upon, for the landlocked could provide much goods and favors that would allow them to stay fed and afloat for longer.

On the other hand, Nerissa's knowledge of smithing would be very much welcome aboard her ship, the Siren's Fancy, for trade skills among the crew members allowed them to live self-sufficiently for longer. But Alcasta insisted on prudence, and informed the younger woman that she and her crew on the Siren's Fancy would be departing the next day, but would return in six months time. Then, and only then, would she accept Nerissa's desire to join her as genuine, if indeed she still wished to after the six months had passed.

Departing From Home: Aboard the Siren's Fancy

Left with little choice but to wait, Nerissa continued to serve as blacksmith's apprentice to her mother. This time, though, her demeanor was purposeful and sure, for she trusted Alcasta's word, and knew in her heart that the wait would change nothing -- would in fact strengthen her resolve. She spoke nothing to her parents or brothers of her plan, though, and the marked increase in her work efficiency and decrease in her evening excursions seemed to appease any concerns they had about her. Lulled into a sense of complacency, they were unprepared for even the possibility of her departure, though Nerissa prepared what belongings she would take with her far in advance, awaiting the day the Siren's Fancy would return.

And return it did, come the next spring, with Alcasta standing proudly at her helm. Nerissa bided her time that fateful day, taking care not to do or say anything out of the ordinary, then departing in the evening on some previously rehearsed excuse to meet the captain with her few gathered belongings in tow. There were no notes or lingering goodbyes, simply a last long look at the home in which she was raised before she turned away and never looked back. She has never seen her family since boarding the Siren's Fancy, and now she never will.

For years, Nerissa sailed with Alcasta Nevermoor and her band of mercenary sailors -- "pirate" was never a word used among the crew. Just as Alcasta had informed her, she was given no respite in her duties on the ship, and expected to learn while on the job. Though she was not allowed to take to the helm right from the start, she did about everything else: cleaning the decks, bailing water, raising and unfurling sails, knotting the rigging snug and tight, patching sails and leaks in the bilge with whatever convenient material was at hand. When they had access to a forge and materials she was, of course, bade to forge fittings to reinforce the boat, replacement bracings, weapons and weapon repairs.

And she learned to fight. Nerissa grew into a tall, powerfully muscled and amply proportioned woman, her head of thick, curly, reddish-brown hair standing out even amongst the crew. Having held a hammer since her youth as a blacksmith's apprentice, she continued to favor such weapons -- hammers, maces, sledges and mauls of all sizes and shapes. But Alcasta trained her to brawl as well, to defend herself with little more than her own bare hands, or -- as Nerissa learned to prefer -- a leather gauntlet reinforced with thick metal plates. Their enemies learned to fear her, the blue-eyed bearer of the spiked tetsubo and gauntlet who showed no mercy to those who dared to underestimate the women of the Siren's Fancy.

Thus she proved herself worthy in the eyes of all the crew, and worked her way up their ranks up to second-in-command. None disputed that she deserved the position, and in fact accorded her a deep respect, for her talent as a blacksmith and her bravery in battle had, at one point or another, saved or benefitted them all. At the same time, she and Alcasta grew ever closer, learning to read one another with such uniform precision that they could act on each other's needs without a single word. Soon they became lovers, an occurence that was unsurprisingly common among the all-female crew, but for them it was more than a passing interest. They had genuinely fallen in love, not even so much for pure appearance (though that was undoubtedly there as well) or sexual preference (Nerissa has always been resolved to love whom she would love, so gender made no difference to her) but out of a deep and mutual respect for one another. It was assumed by all that their bond would be a lifetime one, if only part of Alcasta's life, being one of the Dragons' brood.

Tragedy and Exaltation: The Siren of Calamity

But the Great Mother Sea, with all her fickle wiles and unpredictable moods, had a different fate in mind for the two of them. One evening, a particularly violent and greedy storm blew the Siren's Fancy well off-course, dangerously close to the edges of the Wyld itself. And there, out of the roiling, snapping depths of the ocean, arose a mighty, vengeful Siren -- a Raksha Noble of the distant West, angry at their trespass and hungry to taste their fear, their lust for death as she sings them into her arms. She was Lustrous Pearl, Siren of Calamity, and her wrath laid waste to the entire crew as torrents of rain and crashing waves poured onto the deck of the Fancy, dashing the masts and tipping the vessel nearly to its sides. Nerissa fought, as all of them fought, with desperation and a stubborn will to survive, spurred on as crewmate after crewmate fell to the sting of her trident, the lash of her tentacles, the menacing allure of her call.

But in the end, they all died. Every last one of them -- and Alcasta the very last, perishing as Lustrous Pearl's Wyld-forged weapon pinned her by the chest to the ruined deck of her ship, and the Raksha fed, fed with relish and glee upon Nerissa's howl of angry, helpless anguish. Around her, the limp husks of her crewmates lay sprawled, their faces frozen in a rictus of rage or terror, or grim resolution as death took its inevitable claim. She was alone. Alone facing what was without a doubt the most horrifying and terribly beautiful monstrosity she had ever laid her eyes on ever since the sea called her to ride it. And she wondered, then, at the sweet, mournful timbre of the Siren's song, and found herself asking -- was it this creature who called her there? Called her to what would become her watery grave?

No. Nerissa would not accept it. Refused to accept it. She would avenge every one of these senseless deaths, of her beloved friends and the lover who had shown her the ways of life at sea. And with that impossible surge of righteous, obstinate rage, the Unconquered Sun himself took note of the blacksmith, warrior and sailor who clenched at her tetsubo in the endlessly pouring rain. For through the thick, stormy grey bank of clouds pierced through a single, pure ray of sunlight as the dawn broke over the horizon, silhouetting her in its glory.

She Exalted, then, as a Chosen of the Unconquered Sun, the mark of the Dawn Caste flaring unmistakably upon her brow. Theirs was a fierce and furious battle, as the Sun's Maiden met the Sea's and ultimately rose above her, striking down the Siren of Calamity with weapon gilded by golden Essence. As Lustrous Pearl sank beneath the waves with a last, incredulous wail, Nerissa too felt her knees give way, succumbing at last to fatigue and crushing shock. Above her, the storm abated and finally broke, sunlight drenching her collapsed form as she dreamt restlessly, witnessing again and again with merciless precision the deaths that would weigh heavily upon her mind ever after.

Emerging Leader: Education and Enlistment

What remained afloat of the Siren's Fancy drifted upon the calming waves, running aground many hours later upon a distant, deserted island. There Nerissa stayed for a time, surviving on what food she could salvage from the hold and what shellfish, fruits and plants she could glean from the natural surroundings. She buried the bodies of her crewmembers -- the ones that had died upon the boat -- one by one, and finally Alcasta herself, laying a last, mournful kiss upon her cold, blue lips before lowering her body, bedecked in black jade finery, to the ground and letting the earth claim her at last. The headstone she meticulously carved for the captain of the Siren's Fancy read, "To my beloved Alcasta, moored at last" in Seatongue. She took with her only a shark's tooth necklace with the image of a three-masted trireme eteched into its surface, a piece of jewelry Alcasta had worn for as long as she had known her.

That done, she resolved to busy her grief-filled mind with work, building herself a smaller, makeshift, one person boat from the wreckage of the Fancy. She might be at the mercy of her nightmares, but in the waking world she had much left to accomplish, and she would allow nothing to hinder her from it. As the last surviving member of the Fancy, she was not about to give into despondence and death -- she was determined to ensure that these women lived on in her memory and in her actions from then on. But not long before she was prepared to set the smaller boat upon the ocean and sail towards civilization, the small island was visited by a gilded warship cutting purposefully across the waves, its blazing white sails emblazoned with a lion's head haloed in sunrays.

Nerissa was utterly transfixed, for the vessel was a wonder of the Age, one of the fabled warships of the ruling Solar Exalted. Her surprise only doubled as two of the officials aboard the ship descended to sea level and waded across to shore -- one obviously a soldier, a male navy captain in crisp white and gold military regalia, and the second a female seer draped in silver silken robes and a deep violet cowled cloak. Her Exaltation had been divined, they explained to her, treating her with respect befitting an equal despite the near-rags she now wore, and she would now be offered an education befitting her station, if she would but join them.

It occurred to her at first that she should simply strike off on her own and seek her own fortune, much as Alcasta did in life. But she also recalled another one of Alcasta's lessons -- never to turn away fortune when it comes to one's lap. So with a spark of pride in her deep blue gaze, she chose to accept the offer and was whisked away to the university of a great and reknowned teacher, where she would be taught how to make proper use of her newfound abilities. She excelled, not simply from natural talent but from the fact that she felt she had little else to return to, for the blessing of the Unconquered Sun came upon her too late to save all those she loved. Therefore, she devoted herself singlemindedly to her new cause, to captain her own vessel in the Celestial Navy, upholding peace and defending the shores of all those lands the Solars ruled.

For her efforts, Nerissa was granted a small set of artifacts along with the the command of the Horizon Breaker, a fast, light warship built with the superior technology and materials of the time. But the events leading to the Usurpation have already begun to unfold, and she soon found herself called away from her duties by her former teacher, Storm on the Horizon, one of many Solar Exalted who saw the ruin of their utopia looming near, as Terrestrials began to mutiny and rise up against their Solar kings. It was his desire to preserve what wonders and knowledge they had wrought in this glorious age, and with that in mind he resolved to teach Nerissa and the other elite young Solars he hand-picked to receive special training. But soon, very soon, the First Age would draw to a tumultuous close, and Nerissa and her classmates would be left in perfect stasis for an entire millenium.

The End...?

...or the Second Age

The Age of Sorrows awaits Nerissa as she wakes from a thousand year nightmare into the light of a world greatly changed...