Kirthag DiOrsae

[Kirthag]

Basic & First Glance

Sex: Very much female.

Age: Looks to be in her 40's, but is actually much older (53 years, but she won't admit to any age)

She is small, standing at a mere 16 hands and barely weighing 10 stone (about 5'4" & approximately 140#). Her hair is a very dark auburn with sun touched redness in daylight. There are some silver strands which seem to disappear periodically, or it could be a trick of the light. That hair is of a single length and to her mid back when let down; for the most part it is worn in a top-knot or braid and under her helm. It is wavy hair and will do its own thing when set free. It will most especially frizz with humidity which is characteristic of her race.

Speaking of race, she is human of Celtic descent. Like most, she is solid and strong, but not bulky. Her skin is pale, but will tan a bit during the sunny seasons as she does prefer to be outside. During the winter, her tone pales to an almost alabaster radiance. She is curvy in all the right places, with ample cleavage should one catch her out of her armor - which is rare. 

What is most striking about this female is her face. Creases furrow her brow, but one cannot tell if it is from age or the constant look of scowling worry she presents. Her brows are thick, but straight, adding to her stern expression. Her nose has been broken a few times, so is a bit askew. Her lips are curved, but thin. Alas, two of her lower teeth are chipped, most likely the result of some skirmish. But should she smile, it is a charming one - especially if it reaches her eyes.

And what eyes! A deep and almost living green that tends to flash with a brighter shade depending on her emotion. It is her eyes that give away her secrets, and probably why she squints all the time. Her vision is not poor - quite the contrary! She can spy a  stealthy rogue through any dark forest, then embroider the finest of stitches should she wish to. With a scowl or a grin, the fine creases at the corners of her eyes are the only testament to what might be her true age.

The impression most have of this woman is thus: she is wise beyond her years, has seen and done things most females would avoid, and commands a deep respect from those who get to know her. Humble, for she doesn't announce herself (and feels rather awkward when people announce her - she avoids heralds), yet passionate in her beliefs which are deeply rooted in her very being.



Philosophy

Overall, Kirthag believes in the temperance of war and peace for Justice. Not balance, mind you, but temperance. Total war or total peace are weights upon the scales of Justice, but to have them balanced would mean a guarantee of either. By tempering war, and peace, and not relishing in either, brings a more sensible calm to Justice. War cannot exist without Peace, nor Peace without War; for how might a person know of either without the other? However, by restricting the ways of War and Peace, one can find a place of utter calm which lends a more thoughtful approach to Justice.

This philosophy is what drives Kirthag in her every action. Without temperance, there is no balance - without balance, there is nothing but anarchy. Anarchy begets conflict, which would lead to war and no justice. Without justice, there is no hope for peace. It is the choice of every living entity to do as they will with their lives - no other power can influence that choice.

By not believing that everything is predetermined, Kirthag views the gods as only more powerful beings who will, at times, be good or evil in their intent to accomplish their own ends. She also thinks they get bored, and will then tinker in the lives of others. This contradicts what many believe to be the root purpose of a paladin - to serve their deity and in return be granted special powers. This is not Kirthag's way of thinking.

Kirthag does think there is some natural energy in and around all things - like another element -which cannot be seen, smelt, touched.... but can be mentally tapped into and controlled. This is not "magic" to her (for in her mind, magic is unnatural), but something every person can accomplish should they set their mind to it. It is by this sense that Kirthag is able to perform the deeds that most attribute to paladin abilities. She is sometimes frustrated by those who do not think they can perform these feats themselves. Thus her temper may flare.

It is believed that is why she is always scowling - Kirthag is disappointed in the world.

For Kirthag, the only enemies that exists are those who profess to know it all and commands others to succumb to their way - or die. This is a way of unbalancing the scales of Justice, and the Lady with use every resource within her influence to eradicate extremism as such.



Appearance

Kirthag tend to wear her Virtue Armor, always. This way she is always ready for battle regardless of the setting. She wears a robe over her armor to keep it from being scuffed. In the rare occurrence she is not armored, she will be wearing a plain kilt, shirt, and robe. This is the only time the golden ankh she constantly wears is visible. "For the sake the true Lord of Sosaria, Lord British," she says. She rides an ethereal steed she calls Pooka, which is either barded or bare. 

Kirthag prefers to fight with a blade, but has been known to pick up a bow, or even a halberd. She despises "unnatural magics" despite the properties of her gear. She justifies the gear as being required, for she is tired of wearing a fur loincloth to battle (her kit prior to entering Sosaria).

Kirthag is fastidious in her neatness - to the point of being obsessive about it. Everything about her is prepared and presented in meticulous fashion. If there is one thread awry, there is something wrong with her.

[Kirthag]

History

((OOC - Kirthag was created as a "trash barbarian" for D&D in 1982 - and never died. Her history is very long. I will be as brief about it as possible here.))

Penned by Katterina Syl'vanthi, personal scribe and alchemist to the House DiOrsae of Sosaria

Before coming to Sosaria, the histories of Kirthag are spotty and lost in legend. There is a bard who claims to tell Kirthag's Saga in its entirety, but when asked, the Lady herself calls him a liar. The saga will be published at a later time.

From her own lips, Kirthag claims to come from a small village in a land called Inisfail. The village was raided, and she taken as a mere lass of 4 years to be a scullery maid and play companion in the household of one Lord DiOrsae (of whom she carries his name). She does not know which land this lord ruled in - but it was far from her native soil and across a dark seas. She has barely any recollection of her true parentage, only that her mother had hair like fire and a voice of silk when she spoke. Of her father, she can only say that he had put a dagger in her hand and told her to never give up her heart despite any treatment she receives. She watched him be slain, and she will say nothing more of it.

Her life as a captive was of no consequence. She performed the duties of a child companion to one Lilith DiOrsae who was 3 years her senior. When not with Lilith, Kirthag spent her time helping in the kitchens of the residences she was taken to. Over the years, Lilith and Kirthag formed a deep friendship, akin to sisterhood. It was in Kirthag's eleventh year that Lilith was wed. The girls were then separated, for Lilith's mother of law would not have "childish things" follow her. This affected Kirthag deeply as her time at the DiOrsae kitchens were all encompassing and she barely went elsewhere.

Kirthag does not say exactly when, where, or why she left the home of the DiOrsaes. However, when she is asked of it, her hand unthinkingly goes to a place on her lower belly. It is there that this scribe knows is a deep and ugly scar - most certainly from a wound that one would almost understand to have been the result of a killing blow. The only reason I know of such a scar is the only time I ever saw Lady Kirthag ill, I was tasked to bathe her and espied the grotesque thing first hand. Kirthag was far too delirious to know of this, and I prefer she not realize that I have this knowledge. My comprehension of human anatomy has lent me the understanding that this is, perhaps, the reason she has never had any children of her own.

It is after leaving the House DiOrsae that Kirthag traveled across the lands. She had somewhere procured a thin, slightly curved blade called 'katana' and became an excellent swordswoman with it. She traveled over mountains, through deserts, over oceans, into jungles, and even had the experience of being yanked through dimensions to a place where she slew a god. To hear her tell it, it is but something she brushes off with the wave of her hand. "An' if ya believe tha' - well then - I got me a spot o'gold at the end of a rainbow!" She would laugh as she says this phrase, and I believe it is meant to be some sort of absurd joke.

Truth to it, prior to her staggering timelessly through what she calls The Void only to find herself upon the western shores of Yew, there is no way of knowing for sure just where or what Kirthag is from or did. What is fact is when Sosaria was young and freshly formed of the shattering of the Gem by Mondain, Kirthag was found barely alive, hardly clothed, and grasping a worn katana as if her life depended upon it. Her eyes were wide, wild, and shining in some fanatical fashion which could only have been madness. It took several mages and some powerful sleeping spell to knock her out lest she slay every person and creature that came near her. These people took her to the Empath Abbey, wherein the monks found meditative ways to calm and soothe the otherwise wild female.

When Kirthag's wits were settled, she refused to speak of anything of her past. She assisted the monks for a time as a seamstress, sewing their robes and stitching tapestries. She was walking through the Yew woods exploring when she was accosted by a small band of roaming orcs of some clan on the Atlantic shard. They commenced upon "rez-killing" the otherwise unarmed Kirthag, laughing and growling gibberish at her. When she finally made her way back to the abbey, she was dragging 27 death robes in her wake.

Kirthag spent the next several months hiding in the Empath Abbey - she was afraid to venture too far from the guardzone, lest the orcs find her again. Eventually, a man calling himself MudPuppy convinced her to follow him to Moonglow. There, she bought herself a dagger, and helped keep the mongbats around Moonglow Bay away from the fences. Eventually, she earned enough to purchase armor, and started hunting bigger game. Soon enough, she had the skill and the knowledge, and started hunting all orcs of any clan. To her, an orc is an abomination of humanity - and thus should be eradicated without question. However, the lands were crowding, and there was no space of which Kirthag could call home. She learned of other shards - lands identical yet different to where she was at that time - so putting her mind to it, she found a way to cross the mists and found herself on the Napa Shard of Sosaria.

Around this time, Kirthag met another woman, a bard by the name Lark Kohl. Together the two women traveled the lands helping lumberjacks and miners on their expeditions. The pair made for a strong alliance, and even formed a small guild together, the Pagans of Evergreen [PoE]. However, as Lark spent more time around taverns and swapping stories, Kirthag ventured further into the woods hunting wild orcs and spying on the Guardians of the Undead Lords (GUL). Eventually, the pair drifted apart, with Lark moving to Trinsic as Kirthag established herself in Yew.

Kirthag changed the guild to the 5th Company of Yew (5th), and decided to mimic the Atlantic branch of the Yew Militia - specifically to protect the sprawling city of Yew from the undead and orc incursions surging through the southern reaches of the vast Yew territory. Kirthag formed alliances with many other guilds around Napa, in particular the Clan Marrach Faol, Order of the Sacred Rose, and Veritas. She also befriended the Clan of the Xerads while fighting with the Vampires of Carafax, and her ultimate nemesis in the Cult of the Midnight Wraiths.

It was the turning of Lark by the Cult that ultimately gave Kirthag a reason to learn how to tap the natural energies similar to that of the holy paladins of Trinsic. But this, is a tale best read at another time.

When the threats of the Cult subsided and they left Sosaria, Kirthag also retreated from the realms. Napa had become a vacuum of sorts, even this scribe found it hard to venture forth. For a time, it was thought that Kirthag had found her way back into The Void, and perhaps she did. When next she next appeared in Sosaria, it was only long enough to bid Napa a heartbreaking farewell, for the Lady wished a new start on another shard.

We came to the Pacific Shard, where the world was much quieter and not so full of empty sadness. Kirthag acquired her dream home, a castle right next to the Yew Moongate. From there, the Lady would acquire another castle, several smaller buildings, and a decent income for her troubles. She shelters myself, Tandy, Lark, and a few other personalities that come hither from time to time. What is sad, is the Lady herself is rarely seen outside of the castle she calls the Yew Community Center. She stays in her private chambers, reading and sewing I believe. Sometimes she will appear in the antechamber she calls an office, but for the most part, she is a mere fleck of the woman that I had gotten to know, respect, and love through these years.