Aesa
Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 3:20 am
Credit: https://twitter.com/Okoriart
Aesa Sigdrifa Volsungsdottir
- Race: Human
- Age: Early Thirties
- Languages: Common, Illuskan
- Class: Fighter
- Ancestry: Uthgardt, Black Raven
- Height 186cm
- Weight: 84kg
- Eyes: Ocean Blue
- Hair: Black; wavy and often tied back in a messy bun.
Appearance
A powerfully built woman of northern origins, Aesa is nothing short of the peak of human athleticism. Tall and long limbed, with wiry muscles lining the whole of her body, she retains a full diet and rigorous physical activity to maintain what she has accrued in her years of adventuring. Nary a handspan can be passed on her skin without finding the marks of some battle, long passed or recent, it tells the tale of a warrior who is reckless beyond reason, or apathetic to her own continued existence.
Her face is strongly framed, with a narrow jawline underscoring thick brows over sleepy blue eyes. Raven black hair twists back across her scalp into a partially formed bun, stray locks falling forward across her face and over her ears as careless of her frumpy appearance as it seems to naturally work for her. She never wears face paints of any sort, and she keeps her nails trimmed short under the constant duress of gauntlets and leather glove alike. And like most of her body, her face has numerous marks, including one along her neck more curiously burnt looking then clean cut.
Her gear is much better cared for then herself; her bags regularly replaced when they become worn, and her armor oiled and free of rust; marked with arcane runes that she once feared and reviled. Around her shoulders she often wears brown or green cloaks, sometimes more weather worn but always lining her shoulders is a shawl of beige fur.
Personality
Aesa is honest, forthright and direct with most people she interacts with. She treats others with respect and courtesy up to a point where she feels she's being looked down upon or mistreated, where she becomes cynical and jaded. She has an appreciation for spoken language and a growing admiration for poetry spoken by some of her distant associates. In recent months she's even taken to learning to read and write, having developed a sense of introspection and a desire to better herself. She still lives between worlds, being raised on the savage frontier of the north; but having come to appreciate the subtle beauty and art of the cities of the coast. She's become something of an enigma, not truly belonging anywhere, yet managing to get by wherever she goes.
Beliefs
Once a staunch follower of Uthgar, her years along the Dragon Coast waned the conviction she held in her parental god. She grew from being a woman of the wilds to somewhere in between, now living between the natural and civilized world with some difficulties. In light of this change she turned her faith to a goddess that embodied her newfound respect for southern cities and their peoples, as well as her love of the natural world and spirits. Thus she became a follower of Mielikki, though her relationship with the goddess could be more readily described as one of hope and admiration rather then the obedience and deference she felt toward Uthgar.
With the coming of a new companion of the spirit Aesa has also a growing, fond view of the god Nobanion. His nobility and righteousness standing as something of an inspiration to her, different from what she feels for the likes of the Triad in that it is still primal and wild.
Background
Born amidst the tribes of the Uthgardt, Aesa was raised as a shaman. In her teenage years she befriended a spirit that won her over with its sense of humor, jovial nature and love for the living. The Spirit stoked Aesa's independence saying she ought to be more then an intermediary between the spirit world and the tribes; she ought to be a warrior, a war leader even. Drunk on the prospects of greatness, Aesa forgot her place in arguing this revelation to her tribe, to her family. To the spirit's delight she abandoned her tribe when they rejected it, and the spirit mocked and goaded her, declaring its victory over the tricked adolescent with cruel glee.
Aesa persevered, she didn't heed her training as a shaman further from that day forward. Instead she focused upon survival and travelling south to the lands of weak southern folk where she could live a life in safety, in spite of belonging to no tribe of her own. She passed Luskan and made her way instead to Neverwinter where she met and was trained by a man named Richard Ulleson; a retired knight looking to pass on his knowledge with the blade. He died of ailing health in his old age, leaving Aesa to depart further south where she has traveled since up and down the coast; from the seedy underbelly of Luskan to the sparkling towers of Amn. In recent years she has made her home along the sword coast as a wanderer who has taken to protecting those who need it.
Goals
Personal growth has become central in Aesa's life, but less in the way of swordsmanship and more toward adjusting to life in the south. She has taken to reading, studying chivalrous codes, ethics and philosophy in an attempt to break free from the staunch traditions that have clung to her in the years since leaving the Ravens of Uthgardt.
She also has sought out companionship among the Radiant Heart Auxiliary, following a path to become what she views as the ideal champion of southern folk, even if its members do not necessarily conform to said standard. Accepted as a squire, she sets herself toward rising through hard work, study and introspection.