Ikena

"For being a soldier, you are quite smart" mentioned Samaira."Not to be rude" said Ikena ",but believing the prejudices of groups of people will damage your reputation more than you can fix it with your 'I'm a god's daughter' excuse".

Ikena is an Amphithere ex-soldier who left the army to see what a close friend left them for and then staying there. They are currently working as Samaira's bodyguard albeit the young god's daughter mainly has them around as a friend.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Their scales are dark green, with some parts being coloured with dark red (specially on their tail, wings, and marks on their torso). They have a hood, which only a fifth of the Amphithere display, and three spikes in the top of their head. Their yellow eyes and split tongue (with help of their hood) tend to scare people away, fearing the common venom from the Amphithere, but they were born without the venom glads.

Apparel & Accessories

Their whole closet is composed of a variety of thick pieces of cloths that they combine daily to make the shirt and skirt they will wear such day.  They don't have what one would consider normal clothes, but they have a lot of long and wide pieces of cloth that they tie up around their body with string, rope, or belts. They like their clothes to be open and not restrictive, they find it easier to make their own clothes each day (or, if they get motivated, prepare them for the week or so) than trying to find clothes they like and fit as they desire. The only thing constant is a scarf they seem to always wear, a gift from Eris Shanan.

Ikena doesn't like to wear too many things, neither accessories nor equipment. They only wear their sword around, claiming it's the only material thing they need in life.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Ikena was born in Eshines' capital, Karan Dorei, in a poor family. Their childhood was happy even though their family didn't have always food on the table, their parents' did their best to give them a good childhood. Even though they were happy, they always yearned to make good money and return the happiness to their struggling parents.

Once they were out of age and able to find a job, a recruiter from the army told them that the army payed good, enough to feed a whole family. As Ikena never went to school and thus had limited knowledge for other jobs, they joined the army as soon as they could, without even talking with their parents, who accepted their new job because they needed the money yet deep in them wished for Ikena to find another safer job.

Sex

Male

Eyes

Yellow

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Dark green with some dark red details

Ikena tried climbing through the army ranks quickly to be able to win even more money, yet the life in the army was harsh as they had never prepared for it. Trying to climb the ranks quickly only made them do more errors that made them struggle more. Their actions in the army made them win the nickname "Unlucky rush".

One day, one of their superiors wanted to talk. He claimed that Ikena was good at their jobs, and had a lovely attitude, but they needed to calm down, stop trying to rush things. Ikena was half aware of it already, they just tried to ignore it, but since a superior said it and their parents were finally living good without stressing about money, they considered it was a good idea to calm down.

A few months later, the same superior told them he got them an important job: Ikena was to guard one of the King Etzel's daughters as she made a royal appearance on the city's university. Meeting Eris Shanan was lovely, and the day was tranquil, which allowed both of them to talk quite a bit and getting to know each other. When the day ended, Eris asked to meet again on another time.

For a few months, Ikena and Eris meet quite often, quickly becoming friends. Once, Eris surprised Ikena by giving their parents enough money to live comfortably for a whole month. Ikena didn't like that, they didn't work for that money and it made them feel like they were using Eris for her status when it wasn't the truth. Eris apologized

It wasn't until a year after meeting Eris that Ikena meet for the first time Samaira. Eris kept telling them to not be nervous, but meeting the daughter of a god wasn't a common thing to do and no one had prepared them for it. Once they meet her, the nerves left quickly. During that same day, Eris mentioned to Ikena that both her and Samaira where searching for something old and invaluable. Nothing else was said that day, but Eris started skipping the meetings with Ikena more and more.

When the news that the Shanan family had been murdered, Ikena was promoted to general by the new king Frersai. They felt sick because the death of their friend but excited for their promotion. For a long time, they felt horrible as the thought of them being happy after their friend's death was destroying them, but their family was finally happy and didn't had problems with money and they tried to cling to that feeling.

A sword laying on the ground on a wooden floor by Cassiano K. Wehr

It wasn't long after the new king's coronating that their parents disappeared, leaving a note behind saying that they refused to live under the rule of a murderer. Ikena had learnt that the king was the cause of the Shanan family death and it made him sick, but having their parents leave because of that was the last straw for them. They left their job not even a week after the disappearance of their parents.

For many years, they had one objective in mind: Finding the last project of Eris, what caused her to leave them without being able to say a proper goodbye. They knew that Samaira was alive, wherever she went, rumours about her woke up. But the rumours always started after she apparently left, and travelling between towns without knowing where Samaira would appear next took a long time. But one day they finally managed to find her.

Samaira didn't recognize them immediately and once she remembered them, she didn't wanna share anything about the project, claiming that Ikena was trying to infiltrate under the king Frersai. It took Ikena a lot of talking and arguing to convince her that they had no ties left with the king, and that they only worked under the king's command for their parent's sake. But once they conviced Samaira, she took them to the Skreori temple.

Samaira gave Ikena the job to guard the temple, with the other guards. Ikena wanted to learn more about everything happening yet didn't rush anything after remembering their old superior words about calming down. After some months, Samaira changed their job to be her bodyguard, but in private she claimed it was an excuse to get to know each other better. Their only tie with each other was Eris and they would tried to befriend each other because of that.

It didn't take long for both of them to be close friends and to share knowledge with each other. Samaira taught them to write, read, between other things, and Ikena taught Samaira self-defense. Ikena knew Samaira didn't need to know how to fight with weapons, she had after all powerful magic, but they knew Samaira asked them to taught her to fight just so they didn't feel useless after learning so much from her. Ikena appreciated the detail, but it didn't make them feel much better. They felt as if they were using Samaira even when they just liked her and wanted to stay near her and help her.

Nowadays, Ikena organizes the construction works in the temple as well as command the guards of the temple while still spending a lot of time being Samaira's bodyguard and friend. They have realized they had fallen in love with Samaira after seeing her talk so passionately about everything she did, yet they haven't said anything as they are aware of Samaira's repulsion to sex.

Aerial photography of white and black concrete tower during winter by Stefan Cosma

Motivation

After fighting their whole life to give their parents a good life and they leaving Ikena after they started to work under the King Frersai's command, their objectives in life crumbled in front of them. They suddenly had lost what had been giving them motivation all their life and spent a few months feeling lost in live.

Finding Samaira and the last project of Eris Shanan, the Skreori temple's reconstruction, gave them a new objective in life: to see the temple fully rebuild and protect Samaira's life with theirs. The though of losing another person close to them destroyed them.

Contacts & relationships

Their parents were the centre of their life. Ikena never once stopped to think about themselves but always put their parents' welfare in front of everything. When their parents left them, it broke them and made Ikena feel like they had lost everything just because they took a job from the wrong person. Ikena missed them greatly but feels resentment about them.

They love Samaira. It took them a long time to realize and it hurts them that they cannot be with them in a romantic relationship, but Samaira trusted them by letting them know she feels repulsed by sex and thus has said nothing about their feeling. They enjoy her company and is eternally grateful of her friendship as they don't know where they would have ended without finding her. They started using the "they/them" pronouns after falling in love with Samaira.

Ikena misses Eris Shanan greatly. Eris was one of their best friends and she supported them a lot while they struggled in the army. Her death hurt him deeply, not only because the lost of a friend, but because they got happiness after it and because of it (without initially even knowing it).

King Frersai. The one that caused Ikena more pain on their life indirectly. Before knowing that he was the cause of Eris death, they were happy to have him as king, as he made them a general allowing their parents' to never care about struggling with money again. The happiness didn't last long as it didn't take long for them to learn that the king caused the death of the Shanan family and their parents left them because they were working for the king.

Wooden ladder by bookshelves by Tim van Cleef