User:StarHawk/The Sea Witch
The Sea Witch ~ by StarHawk
- This is a very rough draft of the character idea. I'm trying to leave things vague and openended so I may fit her into more game options. -- Thank You.
The storm overhead was daunting, waves threatened to over turn them with every crash as they met the hull of the ship. Mardona was below deck caring for Faltering Wind when the lightning began. "Just calm your breath, lightning is a good sign this far at sea. It will calm soon. Keep your breath steady, for the baby's sake." Madrona tattered on, she wasn't sure if it was alright. But Wind was with child and it was no time to tell a mother that the birth may be difficult. Madrona was an orsmen on the ship Constance. She was good at what she did and took her pride in her work. They were on a particualrly harsh trip somewhere up north when they took on passengers. Madrona, being the only woman who has had child before, was volunteered to take care of Faltering Wind. The woman was already late with child, and the child didn't want to leave. It was already days late. Madrona knew this was a bad sign. The child to be born in late decending fire, only had a matter of days to come out. The mother was running out of time...
Decending fire came and went. They were now 3 days into calibration. Madrona was trying to coach Wind into holding on just a few more days. Faltering Wind was becoming feverish. Then the storm hit, and it only got worse. The mother could no longer move around, she was stuck to a bed below deck with stale air and humid conditions, she could not last. "Let us pray" Madrona was stalling. Prayer would calm the mother, right. So they sat in the dark and prayed. "Bless us Dragons, let this child be born healthy and happy, let not this child be poxed or cursed. This child needs to be healthy for it's mother's sake." Madrona looked up, Faltering Wind was going into contractions. Madrona tried not to panic as she got everything prepared. If it's coming, it'll come, and no prayer will keep it back. she thought.
After a painful birth, Faltering Wind clutched at her child. She felt her strength weaken with every passing moment, like the babe was sucking all her strength as the suckled for milk. It was a moment of silence that was unexpected.
Madrona, after the birth, was disposing of the afterbirth when she came up on deck. The storm had calmed considerably, the wind wasn't as rough, the waves not as harsh, the lightning passed harless overhead. This is not a good sign... Madrona quickly disposed of the afterbirth and rushed down below to watch the mother. When she returned Faltering Wind was dead. The child slept against her mother peacefully.
It took all of Madrona's wight with her crew to keep them from tossing the child off the ship. The others on board didn't like that the child was born mid-calibration, and on top of all the bad suspicions with it, the mother was dead and the child ever took on apperances if it's "taint".
"The child is young, these things will go away as it ages." She would say. "The mother was weak there was no way to prevent her death." She pleaded. "I will care for the child until we hit land." She finalized.
The crew, helpless to the woman's demands and reasoning, let the child stay.
Time flew by, and halfway into Respendant Air they set in for port at home. By this time, the child, who still held no name, was passed off to Madrona's sister Serine. "Take good care of her. But be warned, and don't allow any ... funny business." And the nameless child was left ashore.
Serine, being a compassionate person, named the child Casaia and took it as her own. Serine raised Casaia as hers and Serine's children thought it wonderful to have a little sister, even if she was tinted blue.
Casaia grew quickly. She was going to be tall, and one could tell from an early age. Madrona visited Casaia often, whenever they set into port, and would play the "distant mother" role in Casaia's life. Though Madrona didn't aprove of how she was being raised there was little an orsmen of a ship could do, it's not like she could take the child with her.
Time passed quickly. And as Casaia grew, others began to note her quirks. How quickly she learned everything, as if she had already lived it. She spoke rarely, and longed to play in the water always. She had a natural talent for swimming. Whenever she could she'd swim in the ocean for hours and hours. Often swimming quite far from home.
Neighbors began to speak of Casaia as 'born to the waves'. Neighbor kids would commonly make her the butt of jokes. All in good fun still left her feeling like quite the outsider. When she couldn't be allowed out, she'd stay inside and read or meditate the day away. Her curiosity of spirits and the supernatural world around her got her noticed by the local occultist. Merlock, a grumpy old man who looked fondly on young boys. He didn't really like Casaia much, but took her as a student for a time.
As time passed Madrona was allowed more time at port, and took the time to care for Casaia. Their bond grew, considerably over that time, and at last Madrona was premoted to a station on the boat that would allow the child to come with. Serine was not pleased. The sisters bickered over it for a considerable time. It was Casaia who eventually put an end to the fights and went with Madrona.
More time sailed by and Casaia was allowed to blossom into a woman. Around the time of puberty her blue tinted skin turned more tan, except for around her lips, eyes, ears, and fingertips, which stayed blue.
Her natural affinities only grew. She was soon a adept sailor, a decent medic, and often the one to sooth sea spirits. Casaia didn't come into her own until she reached the precious age of 17. She exalted then, as a Twilight solar. The crew was shocked at this and only kept the girl around because what she was originally good at she was now spectacular at.
