About Skalla Kel TathSkalla Kel Tath
Background:
Skalla's orcish mother was a refugee from The Hold of Belkzen, hunted by both Lastwall's soldiers and her former tribe. While usually it was male orcs forcing themselves on human women as a way of terrorizing the small border communities in Lastwall and Varisia, in this case it had been the other way around. An incursion into Belkzen by a small troop from Lastwall; a soldier enraged by grief at the deaths of his comrades and by his own memories of an abused and murdered sister; a scrawny half-orc witch who had been tolerated in the tribe only for her unnatural powers. Exiled by her tribe, the orc barely made it into Nirmathas. Hiding in forests and caves, she gave birth to her daughter. Fearing for both their lives, she traveled south, always south, keeping the mountains on her right, staying away from settlements and roads.
The harsh life took its toll on her already weakened body, and when Skalla was 4 years old, her mother died of a fever after spending several nights in the chilly autumn rain. Skalla would have died as well, had a Kellid hermit not found her and taken her in. She grew up in the ramshackle hut in the woods, foraging for food when the donations of the villagers nearby were scarce. The hermit knew many tales and stories and he told them all to Skalla, teaching her half-forgotten legends and prophecies. It wasn't a bad life, and Skalla was content with the way of things, until the way of things changed abruptly one bloody night, soon after Skalla's 15th birthday. They never saw them coming, masked raiders on horses, thundering on the forest paths, crushing their herb and vegetable garden under their mounts' hooves, throwing lit torches into their hut and sliding a broadsword over the hermit's throat almost like an afterthought. They took Skalla with them, to serve them and entertain them, although she would not have called entertaining the things they did to amuse themselves. At long last, she managed to escape one night when most of them were drunk, stealing one horse and scattering the others. She rode all night and most of the next day, until the horse collapsed under her. Then she walked until her feet were bloody, scared and alone, seeking shelter and protection. She would stop in villages and towns, entertaining the crowd for food and a few coppers, reciting for them the sagas of the north and the fables of the south or singing at weddings and celebrations. It was on the road that she met Alina, a tattoo artist and devotee of Shelyn, who taught her about beauty and love as they walked together from spring to autumn across Nirmathas. Alina wanted to head to Phaendar for an arts and craft festival, so Skalla followed. The small town charmed them both, and they settled there - Alina with her little tattoo shop, Skalla teaching at the local school. They had a good life for a few years, until Alina grew restless and bored with the provincial life and left it all behind to join a Varisian caravan headed for Korvosa. That was a very difficult choice for Skalla - she had built a career and reputation in Phaendar, had found a measure of peace and acceptance there, which she was not willing to sacrifice for the uncertain promise of an urban future. Alina was hurt by Skalla's indecision and left quite abruptly after a heated argument. Skalla was heartbroken, but she carried on, seeking solace in her stories and her work. These days, Skalla still teaches, trying to fill the emptiness in her life with other people's children, telling her stories to whomever might listen, and chasing goats away from her flower patch. Of an evening, she'll be in The Root, the town's local inn, listening to the people, nursing a glass of ale and stealing glances at Jet (she hasn't worked up the courage yet to talk to the woman beyond a few courtesies). Appearance and personality:
With her orcish blood very apparent at first glance, Skalla has found it very difficult to fit in among the predominantly human population of Nirmathas. She is neither ashamed nor proud of her heritage, and approaches that aspect of her past with equanimity; she cannot help who her parents were, or how she was conceived, or the brutalities and atrocities committed on both sides. She is who she is - storyteller, lorekeeper, teacher trying to make her own way in a chaotic world. She inherited a small measure of arcane power from her mother, along with the orc blood, which she mostly puts to use in the classroom when a student becomes overly rowdy. While the adults in Phaendar still view her with a measure of wariness, if not outright suspicion, her students adore her. Skalla's creative approach to teaching, her infinite patience and the sheer exoticness of the greenish skin, tusks and beautiful tattoos have earner her undying admiration and loyalty, the latter which she returns tenfold. Utterly dedicated to the little tykes and fiercely protective of them, the usually-pleasant, smartly dressed and well-mannered half-orc can turn into a raging she-bear should one of 'her' children be threatened in any way. She does not allow bullying of any kind among her students, either. More than simply imparting knowledge, she strives to shape them into worthy beings, nurturing in each the qualities that she finds most fitting.
When she is not teaching, Skalla dedicates herself to her goddess. While she has no skill or talent with the fine arts, she has a carefully maintained collection of flowers in the front garden of her small cottage - a profusion of peonies, lilies, hibiscus, chrysanthemums, roses, jasmine, poppies, daffodils, petunias, tulips, hyacinths and even a magnolia tree. The time she does not spend tending her garden is allotted to her singing practice and to unearthing new stories and legends to tell the children. Every caravan, every itinerant trader, every wandering soul on the road she talks to, bartering for treasures of word and song. Her favourites are those who make one rethink their world, either by revealing hidden facets or by putting a twist on widely-accepted truths. |
