Risli Bluestone
SPOILER WARNING FOR 'THE SCARRED KING III' AND 'KILLING THE SIDJ'
Risli
The children in the classroom sang, “Lazy, crazy Risli. Lazy, crazy Risli.”
Their teacher snapped, “Stop that!”
Ten-year-old Risli stumbled with her tutor gripping her hand as they left
the classroom and began the long walk home to her parent’s elaborate
home carved into the mountain side. Her throat hurt and her forehead
throbbed. Why had she left the darkness that sheltered her from the other
students? Why were they walking home before school ended? She must
have been screaming again. Because . . . because . . .
“Risli, look at the birds,” Tutor Wells said.
The pigeons moved jerkily, just like the sidj had moved jerkily. Risli
whimpered and closed her eyes. She tripped over a drainage trench. The
tutor’s pull on her arm wrenched her shoulder but kept her from falling.
“Risli, look at your feet.”
She could look at her feet. Her leather shoes moved in and out of her
shadow as the chiseled rock seemed to flow under her. Wagons rolled by
and people chatted. Tutor Wells greeted a few, but no one spoke to Risli.
Every so often, Tutor Wells sighed. Maybe she would quit today. Despair
clogged Risli’s throat and filled her eyes. She liked Tutor Wells.
They scuffed through the courtyard and into the stone hallway, turned
right, and walked to her bedroom that was well-lit by a glass block window.
Soot discolored the blue walls above the candle sconces. Oil lamps lined
the windowsill. Tutor Wells finally let go of her hand, and Risli flopped onto
her mattress set directly on the floor.
Tutor Wells sat beside her and murmured, “What happened this time,
sweetie?”
Risli thought back to the teacher unrolling a map on the wall and
pointing to parts of the Megaloth Empire. The border made a sharp curve
around the Valley of the Sidj. The Sidj tore Mama’s arm.
Wells grasped her shoulder. “I can’t hear your thoughts. Speak aloud,
please.”
Risli’s chest and throat had tightened, cutting her breath into a wheeze.
“You can do it.”
Risli sucked in breath. “Map. Teacher showed us a map.”
“Mmm. Geography is my favorite subject. I think I can guess why it isn’t
yours. Did the map show the Valley of the Sidj?”
Risli froze, and then remembered to nod. Her chest tightened again.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Healthy, lithe and agile.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
At the age of five, Risli witnessed the brutal murder and dismemberment of her parents by sidj. She was kidnapped by the sidj and taken to their mother tree in order to feed her to it, but was rescued by several members of the Bluestone Miners and a Sea Predator named Bowmark. The trauma from this event defined her life for the next decade, and propelled her to be the world-shaping figure she would become.
Gender Identity
She/her
Education
Basic children's school. (stunted by her emotional damage)
Basic Crimson Platoon fighting school. (hampered by her low birth.)
Accomplishments & Achievements
Almost single-highhandedly arranged the eradication of the sidj and subsequent re-settlement of the Valley of the Sidj.
Failures & Embarrassments
Her childhood was one failure after another as she came to grips with her trauma and abusive adopted parents.
Mental Trauma
Severe P.T.S.D. and Attentional Disabilities
Intellectual Characteristics
Abnormally intelligent and very stubborn.
Morality & Philosophy
She has a very keen sense for those who are being victimized, and this impulse overrules any other inherited moral concerns.
Taboos
Her P.T.S.D. can be triggered by many things. Seeing or hearing about sidj, or even shapes, colors, movement, and sounds that remind her of them are avoided at high cost to her.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Her driving organizing principal in her life is to keep the sidj from doing to others what they did to her parents.
Social
Family Ties
After her parents were murdered she was taken in by her aunt and uncle. Unfortunately they never liked her and put up with her only so they could live in her former parent's house.
Social Aptitude
Severely socially handicapped by her trauma, only her stubbornness to achieve her goals cause her to find creative work-arounds for the social niceties and necessities.
Species
Ethnicity
Year of Birth
2496 A.C.
4 Years old
Birthplace
Children
Hair
Light brown
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Pale
Height
157.48 cm (5'2")
Weight
47 Kilo (104 lbs)
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
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