Saranaja's page

Born the third child of four on the island of Jalmeray, Saranaja has never quite managed to live up to anyone’s expectations for her. Her mother Gahnasaj was the eldest daughter of a well respected merchant family that earned dishonor when she fell in love with a common farmer named Janin and married him against her family’s wishes. Her parents provided her a generous dowry before severing all ties with her, turning their attentions to her younger sister.

Despite the fall from grace her mother invested her dowry into her husband’s family farms, and a ship and crew, eventually establishing a modestly successful shipping business. Their first child turned out to be twins, a boy and girl who seemed blessed with promise. Kalelja and brother Lanek seemed to be the perfect children, and it almost seemed like their birth had been a miracle as after almost another decade Gahnasaj failed to grow pregnant. Having such wonderful twins they grew content with their small family, and so it came as a surprise when Gahnasaj became pregnant again, and Saranaja was born.

Though she was welcomed gladly into the family her parents seemed almost unsure of what to do with her. She was not neglected, but neither did she receive the same attention as her siblings who were already on the paths to greatness. Kalelja was granted a position at The Conservatory--the secret and greatly respected academy upon Grand Sarret--thanks to one of their mother’s younger brothers who had become a teacher there. Lanek meanwhile tested for and was accepted into one of Jalmeray’s Houses of Perfection.

Living in her sibling’s shadows she could never hope to compete. She certainly had the looks of her mother and elder sister, but lacked discipline and was constantly getting into trouble. The only family member who seemed to pay her any real attention was Etzil, her uncle on her father’s side, and her little sister Aeri—born three years after Saranaja.

Etzil had risen with the new family business, learning sailing and helping the business to prosper, before moving to Absalom and becoming a bounty hunter. Throughout her childhood he visited Saranaja and showered her, and Aeri with gifts, affection, and tales of fantastic adventure on the high seas and beyond; daring exploits hounding smugglers into the jungles of the Mwangi, of risking life and limb in the storms of the Abendego Gulf, of repeling Ulfen raiders in their strange oar-propelled ships, and countless others. The stories fascinated her, but all her mother seemed interested in was sending Saranaja along the path of her sister, Kalelja.

Needless to say Saranaja had neither the interest, nor temprement to become a proper courtesan like her ‘great sister’ who plied the intrigues of Niswan. Despite her protests she was shipped off, given into her other uncle’s care at Grand Sarret. As a testament to his patience and endurance the young girl lasted for over a year before her flagrant disobedience, and unsuitability—culminating in her badly burning another girl-student with a cup of hot oil—resulted in her being expelled from the organization.

The Conservatory had not been a kind place to Saranja; her sister had been an exemplary student and the same was obviously expected of her. She actually tried to live up the high standards her teachers held for a time, but the behavior of the other girls soon soured any hope of making something of the time there. Seeing only the younger sister of Kalelja they bullied her terribly and she retaliated in kind, and lashed out in other ways. She was almost kicked out when she was discovered in a compromising situation with a male student several years her senior, but her uncle managed to smooth that first incident—and many others besides—over successfully. When she was finally returned to her parents in disgrace they made little effort at bridging the gap when she shut herself off from them. They were less ambivalent when her acting out continued, but Saranaja no longer concerned herself with the opinions of anyone except Aeri and Etzil.

The next time her uncle visited them Saranaja begged him to take her with her. He intially refused, but after speaking to his brother and sister-in-law, he took pity upon the wayward teen and agreed to take her to Absalom with him, though he flatly refused to allow Aeri to come with him despite her and Saranaja’s pleading. Aeri had not suffered as Saranaja had, but still she loved her sister and uncle perhaps more than her own parents—it seemed Gahnasaj and Janin had realized their fault with Saranaja and had made some effort at ensuring their youngest daughter did not go the same way.

Freed from the tyranny of her uncaring parents Saranaja started to actually blossom. As she’d dreamed she found her uncle’s lifestyle much more to her liking. She showed only a modicum of talent at the tasks expected of a sailor aboar her uncle’s ship, The Wandering Cutlass, but proved her real worth when her uncle and his crew put a blade in her hand—albeit a wooden practice one. As young and scrawny as she was brute force was out of the question, but she showed a skill for a finer blade and other more delivate—though no less deadly—weapons. Even some of the skills they’d crammed into her at the Conservatory proved to be of use--she was quite good with a needle and thread when a sail needed mending, and was adept at gathering information without arousing suspicion. She learnt to climb, swim, read charts, and plot a course, and Eztli’s crew loved her—a little too much in some cases, the girl experiencing her first, meaningful relationship with the quartermaster of the ship, an attractive young Osiriani named Olet.

She could have happily continued on in that lifestyle, but after several years as she was reaching full maturity, tradgedy struck. She and Eztli had been on the trail of >insert semi-powerful pirate of GM’s choice here<, and had ventured cautiously into the Shackles to sniff about for their target. She’s still not sure how it happened, but it seemd their presence had been betrayed during the night, and while she had been on shore maintaining their cover, >Pirate’s< forces had taken the Wandering Cutlass. The ship was gone when she arose, and she found no sign of her uncle, or any of the other crew; and so she found herself stranded in Hell Harbor with nothing but her sea bag and a burning need—for she had long ago converted to the faith of Calistria—to track down the man who’d killed her Uncle, for surely he was laying somewhere at the bottom of the sea. The transition to pirate was an easy one for the young lass, who shared many of the scum’s vices and proclivities.

Saranaja can be... a bit of a b&+*$. She is headstrong, opinionated, and doesn’t know when to shut up. She enjoys the pleasures of the flesh, and isn’t above using them (read: indulges in them whenever possible) to get what she wants. That being said, if she makes a genuine connection with someone (not an easy thing to do) she is extremely loyal, and indeed can be quite nice under the right circumstances. Cross her however and you will receive the full force of her temper. Few things bother her all that much, though Etzil did manage to instil a few morals in her; she is not overly fond of the practice of slavery, and won’t abuse ‘innocents’ simply for her own gain. While she is not particularly fussy, she is hygeine conscious, bathes semi-regularly, and insists on the same from those she shares her time with; the sick and especially those suffering from diseases particularly unsettle her, and she will do her best to avoid any chance of growing ill.

Saranaja is tall, dark haired, and usually sensuously dressed. She is proud of her body and not afraid to show it. She possesses the large, golden eyes of her race, and an olive complexion that in the right light, or upon close enough examination proves to have a green tinge to it, in a wavy band pattern, alternating lighter and darker shades. She has a large tattoo on her right shoulder of a roaring tiger being bit by a snake.