Gretsis Valitsis

Gretsis Valitsis (a.k.a. Val)

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Early Life

Gretsis Valitsis was born on the 20th of Sesnor, 1551 AA. Her father was a fisherman from the town of Laipéda and her mother served in one of the private manors of the governor of Vesis.

As a child, she spent most of her time working with her father, doing her best to learn all he knew about the fishing business. Since her mother was away most of the time, Gretsis didn't get to see her too much and instead bonded more with her father. For her sixth birthday, she received her first fishnet and her father even organized a small party for her. Many of the other fishermen who had been working with them for years attended the party, some out of respect for her father, and some just liked the young fishergirl.

Other than her father and a few of the older, more experienced fishermen, Gretsis didn't have other friends. Most of the fishermen in her town were older and their children had already grown up. There were a few other children her age who lived near their shack, but none of them wanted to have a friend like her. Most of the boys didn't like that she smelled of fish all of the time, and amongst the local girls, a rumor had begun to spread about the hidden dangers of fishermen. Somehow a story had gone around that fishermen commune with underwater Aberati and that at night, fishermen find and kidnap children and toss them into the sea as a sacrifice to please their dark overlords.

Warehouse Incident

On the 4th of Atheus, 1560 AA, Gretsis had been walking home after work in the evening. Since it had still been early spring, the streets had already gone dark, but her and her father's shack was only a five-minute walk away from their normal workplace. Gretsis' father had let her walk home alone, most of the people around their part of town where all acquaintances or friend and crime rates were relatively low in the district, leaving him confident that nothing bad would happen to his daughter without him. Although somewhat scared at first, Gretsis quickly realized that everything was fine, the only thing that was different was that she didn't have a buddy to talk to while walking, but that too seemed like a refreshing change. She listened to the sound of the waves crashing against the beams that held up the fishing piers, the birds chirping and retreating to their homes for the night.

Nearing the shack, she also heard a few voices whispering. The sound came from an old abandoned warehouse that was struck by lightning and nearly burned down on the same year as she was born. The building didn't look very safe and most people avoided it at all costs, yet Gretsis was a curious young girl who wanted answers instead of unrealistic tales. She snuck closer to the warehouse, avoiding stepping into puddles of mud and keeping her eyes out for others on the empty street. On closer inspection, she noticed a dim light shining through a crack in the wall. Moving her head closer, she began to hear the voices clearly. One of them, an older man with a gruff gravelly voice and another younger man whose pitch sounded almost feminine.

The two spoke about poisons, water, and the 6th of Atheus, but other than that, Gretsis couldn't understand what the conversation was about. Hearing them walk closer to the main door of the warehouse, Gretsis returned back to the middle of the street, walking home as if nothing had happened, but as she turned around, a tall man stood behind her. In his hands was a two-handed ax and he looked straight into her eyes as if he knew that what she was doing wasn't allowed.

Gretsis was ready to come up with an excuse, but before she could say anything, the tall man interrupted, placing his hand on her mouth. He told her to remain quiet and that he meant her no harm. Gretsis wasn't convinced and believed that the man was working with the scoundrels in the warehouse, and so the tall man pulled her into a dark alley, out of sight of the men who were leaving the warehouse. After waiting a few minutes for the men from the warehouse to leave, the tall man uncovered Gretsis' mouth and explained that he was trying to help her. He told her that his name was Niklas and that he was a friend of her mother. When Gretsis' asked about the ax, Niklas explained that his job was to investigate rumors of cult activity in the town on behalf of the governor of the state of Vesis.

Even at that age, Gretsis knew enough about the world to know that the only cult dangerous enough to require the government's assistance in dealing with, would be the Aberati Cult. Knowing that they might be in the city, she wondered if the stories about fishermen and the underwater aberati held a grain of truth. Niklas told her not to worry about the cult and he reassured her that he'd take care of them. With everything cleared up, he led young Gretsis back to her shack, walking slowly as to avoid accidentally running into the potential cultists

Fishing Accident

For Gretsis' fourteenth birthday, her father decided to take her on a trip to his favorite childhood fishing spot north of the town. They decided that the best way to get there would be to rent one of the fishing boats and since the man who owned the boat was a friend of theirs, they got it for a very affordable price. The trip there only took an hour and a half and as if God had looked favorably upon Gretsis' the dark layer of clouds that had plagued the town disappeared only twenty minutes after they left the fishing pier. The spot they went to was a calm hill with the Great Gulf on one side, and a small wood grove on the other side.

The two spent around half an hour preparing their campsite. Since they expected to stay there for the night, they brought with them a tent, tinderbox, a pan, and salt. While her father took care of the tent and the fireplace, Gretsis went to collect broken branches from the nearby grove. Her father had told her that the living trees shouldn't be harmed and Gretsis heeded his words. One of the trees had toppled over and died, most likely due to a storm that had occurred a few weeks prior to their trip. Seeing as that tree was already dead, Gretsis broke off its branches and carried them back to the camp, tossing them into the newly prepared stone circle.

Once the campsite was ready for their return, the two boarded the boat after grabbing their fishing rods and a bucket filled to the brim with worms. Hours went by and although they had a lot of fun just talking to each other, telling stories of legendary figures such as Saint Gilbert Hillen, they couldn't find a single fish. At some point, her father claimed he saw a big fish move below the boat, but even that was at least an hour ago. Frustrated with the lack of fish, Gretsis whacked the water with the back of her hand and stared further into the endless water. The sun was beginning to set and her father began rowing back, but then another dark fish-like shape went under their boat. Gretsis' father hadn't noticed it, or if he did he just ignored it and continued rowing back to shore.

Just as the two were about to jump out of their boats, a large tentacle flew out of the water and grabbed Gretsis' father by the neck. Panicked, she tried grabbing her fathers arm and pulling him out of the creature grasp, but after a few tugs, the creature pulled her father closer to it. Gretsis still held her father's arm, but due to the pull, both of them fell and she heard a sickening crunch that reminded her of all the branches she snapped off earlier. Getting off her stomach, she noticed that her fathers head had snapped backward and the broken tip of his spine protruded from his bloody neck. Absolutely horrified, she crawled back, just bearly escaping the creatures tentacle grab. Seeing as it couldn't get a hold of Gretsis, it chose to take her fathers limp, lifeless corpse instead, swiftly dragging it underwater.

Leaving everything behind, Gretsis ran back to Liapéda on foot. As she stopped to take a breath on a high cliff, she saw the creature grab ahold of the boat they had rented, pulling it deep into the grey-blue sea.The journey home on foot took far longer, by the time she finally arrived, the sun was slowly beginning to reveal itself again. Even the guards of the town were somewhat suspicious of the random girl who came to town early in the morning without her parents, but after some convincing, they finally realized that she was a local. One of them helped guide her back home and informed the other fishermen of the creature and how it had taken Gretsis' father's life.

Depression

Without a father to guide her, Gretsis was lost. She still had a mother, but relations between the two had degraded. Gretsis began to hate her for not spending time with her and her father, but she also began to hate herself for what had happened. Even though her father died at the hands of what seemed to be an underwater aberati of some sort, she still blamed herself since without her, he wouldn't have gone there and without her holding on to his arm and pulling him, he might not have had his neck snapped.

Without her father, she slowly lost all connections to the local community of fishermen. Even the friend who had rented his boat to them wanted nothing to do with her. With each passing day she kept convincing herself that without her ever existing, her father would have been happier and wouldn't have died at such a young age. Eventually, after exactly two years of feeling guilty about her own existence, she returned to the place where her father had died, and using a sharp rock, she stabbed herself in the throat.

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Education

Gretsis was homeschooled by her father who taught her all he knew about fishing and business. He also taught her what he knew about history and religion, but most of what he knew was pretty common knowledge.

Employment

Gretsis began working as a fisherwoman from an early age and kept at it until her fourteenth birthday. After that she couldn't bring herself to do anything else.

Mental Trauma

Severe depression that was caused by her father's death.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Before her father's death, Gretsis desired to work as a fisherwoman, just like her father before him. She was fairly good at the job, especially when it came to selling the fish at the Laipéda market square. She even had conversations with her father where they talked about starting their own special fish market close to the piers.

After her father's death, she had lost all motivation to work and the fishermen who she and her father had worked with began to distance themselves from her, eventually forgetting that she even existed.

Species

Human

Ethnicity

Alinhasian

Life

1551 AA 1567 AA 16 years old

Circumstances of Birth

Born during an annual summer festival

Circumstances of Death

Suicide

Birthplace

Laipéda

Gender

Female

Eyes

Light brown

Hair

Long, straight, dark brown

Height

1.67 m

Weight

53.7 kg

Known Languages

Alminthian