Appearance

Physical Description

Taking after her father, Sakyp is fairly lean for a Vojaki, which makes her perfectly suited for riding. Her muscles aren't large, but are powerful - particularly her calves, from years of horse riding, and her shoulders and back, which have developed as she has grown more skilled as an archer.

Body Features

Normally, Sakyp is in full armor and the only skin to be seen is on her face and hands. Her homeland in the north is typically cold, so Sakyp is always prepared to face harsh elements.

Facial Features

Protruding from Sakyp's lower jaw are two prominent canines. They aren't particularly large by Vojaki standards, but in Galdra children often stop and stare. If she's in a good mood, Sakyp will growl cheekily at curious children, but normally she tries to ignore it. Sakyp's eyes are a golden colour, flecked with amber and brown.

Apparel & Accessories

When out of the Wayfarer's Lodge, Sakyp almost always wears a long, moss-green coat and leather armor. The coat flares from her waist, allowing her to quickly and easily mount her horse. Personally, Sakyp thinks it looks impressive, too. She has two bows slung across her back: a longbow and a shortbow. She also has a kukri sheathed on her belt, which she would typically use to skin her prey if it were to be eaten or if its fur were to be used.



When anticipating potential combat, Sakyp wears a chestnut brown, leather glove. The glove is embroidered with images of birds in flight, and Vojaki runes that translate roughly to 'With might and honour we soar'. Her eagle Zeru will alight upon the glove at any sign of danger. Day-to-day, Zeru flies nearby when Sakyp is out of the Wayfarer's Lodge, occasionally deigning to perch on her shoulder - although it seems her prefers not to do this when others are around, as they tend to call him 'cute' and make a fuss.

Mentality

Personal history

1148: Sakyp is born

It's an unremarkable, slightly rainy morning in Suurin when Sakyp's mother, Inzhu, gives birth. Sakyp's father, Sukhrab, holds his partner's hand. Over the next 19 years, they raise Sakyp in Suurin, a settlement at the foot of the Dream Mountains on the eastern fringes of the Vojaki Steppes.


The landscape around Suurin is characterised by mossy, grassy plains to the west and imposing mountains to the east. The mountains bring fresh water from springs and snowmelt, which in the spring turns streams into rivers, and waterfalls into thundering torrents.


Both of Sakyp’s parents are part Vojaki, as are all the other members of the Suurin settlement. Her mother has more pronounced lower front canines, inherited from Sakyp’s grandfather. Sakyp's father’s skin has a greener hue than her mother’s, which is almost grey. Sakyp's own skin has a green-grey hue, halfway between the two.


Sakyp idolises her parents. Her mother is a skilled hunter, using a bow and arrow to hunt her prey on horseback. When Sakyp was very small, her mother would take her hunting in a sling across her chest. Her father is a warrior who, in the ‘ka’el ghur’ times when there is no active conflict, uses his strength and ingenuity to assist with upkeep of the settlement’s buildings.




1153: Sakyp meets Zeru

When Sakyp is five years old, Inzhu gives her an eagle chick to raise. Sakyp names the chick Zeru. Zeru accompanies Sakyp when she accompanies her mother on hunts, and becomes almost an extension of her, the two are so in sync. Sakyp is not confident to hunt for herself yet, but enjoys watching Zeru fly alongside her mother's mount.



1156: Sakyp goes on her first hunt

When Sakyp is nine years old, Inzhu takes her on her first official hunt. Sakyp has been learning to ride and feels confident as they set out from Suurin to the western plains. The pair, accompanied by Zeru and her mother's raven, Enkhtuya, spot a pair of hares in a patch of scrub. With encouragement from her mother, Sakyp aims her bow, and looses an arrow at one of the hares. To Sakyp's dismay, the shot misses and the hare bolts across the plain. Desperate not to lose her first real prey, Sakyp snaps the reigns of her horse and takes chase, followed by her mother. Keeping the hare in her sights, Sakyp tries her hardest to aim her bow while maintaining control of her horse. The task feels impossible - she can't turn her body towards the hare while syncing with the horse's gait, and it feels impossible to focus her aim on the moving target. Sakyp feels a rage at herself brewing, and hot tears at the corner of her eyes. Distracted, she lets another arrow loose... but the shot coincides with her horse taking a long stride to clear a boulder, and she is thrown from the saddle. As she lies on the floor, winded and embarrassed, Zeru lands beside her... the hare dead in his talons. Back home, once the shame had worn off, Sakyp learned a valuable lesson - that she and her companion were one, and that only by working in synergy could they achieve greatness.



1167: Sakyp is partnered to Tal'at

When she is 19 years of age, as is tradition, a life partner is selected for Sakyp. Tal’at is a skilled horseman who escorts trade caravans to the nearest settlement, Karau. Despite the fact that he is a year younger than Sakyp, he is a good head taller, with relatively slender limbs that betray his more human heritage. But what Tal’at lacks in Vojaki blood, he makes up for in his thirst for it. When he was young, he’d been the recipient of frequent beatings from the other children, until one day he snapped and tripped his older cousin off a cliff, killing her. After that, he seized any chance to enact revenge upon his tormentors, using his speed and agility to turn their own strength against them. He didn’t kill again until he was much older, but hardly a week goes by that he doesn't get into - and win - a fight. Sakyp knows of all this, and is not pleased at the prospect of her life match, worrying for her own safety. On their first night together, when Sakyp cannot please Tal’at as she has been instructed, she braces herself for a blow. But none comes. Tal’at is, and always will be, gentle with her. But he is also fiercely protective, and cannot be held back when he flies into a jealous rage against anyone who looks at Sakyp ‘the wrong way’.




1180: Tal'at becomes chief

The nearest settlement to Suurin is another Vojaki settlement, almost two day’s ride away to the south, called Karau. The two settlements maintain a trade route and are uneasy allies - typically, disputes are settled quickly, so that trade can resume, and bloodily, as is customary.



When Sakyp is 22, a dispute arises that will change her life. It all starts when the chief of the Karau settlement - Bat'ar - asserts that a Suurin trade mission was missing promised ore. The Suurin chief - Khulan - insists that no ore was ever promised. Of course, Vojaki do not settle disputes by referring to paperwork, but by combat - so it is arranged that the two chiefs will send their greatest warriors to settle the matter. The Karau send Och - an eight-foot tall warrior who wears tokens from his victims around his muscular neck. To represent the Suurin, the chief choose not to send one of her warriors, but to fight Och herself. [She loses, the new leader is decided by combat, Tal’at wins and becomes the Suurin chief.]




1186: Sakyp betrays Tal'at

[Sakyp develops feelings for a female Vojaki from Karau, and eventually succumbs to her feelings and betrays Tal’at. The female Vojaki in turn betrays her, revealing her infidelity to Tal’at. Sakyp is banished, taking Zeru and her horse along with her weapons and rations, and heads south, to Galdra.]




1187: Sakyp finds employment in Vyrhall

[Sakyp ends up in Vyrhall, and finds employment as an outrider and messenger for Lord Tycho]




1188: Sakyp meets the Wayfarers

[Sakyp has to deliver an item to the Wayfarers. During her delivery she meets Erris Banstrom, who she feels an immediate attraction to. She offers her services to the Wayfarers, and is recruited on a trial period for her tracking and archery skills.]




1189: Sakyp joins the Wayfarers

[Sakyp joins the mission to the Shadow Plane and proves herself a valuable asset to the Wayfarers. She joins the Wayfarers officially.]

Known Languages

Vojaki, Galdran

Personality

Social

Birthplace

Suurin

Current Residence

Wayfarer's Lodge, Caldarren

Hobbies & Pets

Sakyp's closest companion is her eagle, Zeru. Sakyp and Zeru hunted together on the Vojaki Steppes, and the two maintain an unbreakable connection.