Azura

Origins & History
Azura was born in the isolated and remote village of the Akaari, an ancient and rumoured to be mythological community, predominately female, who made their home nestled deep in a valley of impassable mountains. The Akaari lived simple and peaceful lives which were interwoven with their belief and worship of the water goddess, Melusine, who they believed made her home in sacred mountain springs and channels known only to their people. She was believed to speak through the high priestess of the village which was Azura’s mother, Seraphina. The gift was prophesied to be passed down to one of her three daughters, their family line connected to the Goddess through ancestral blood.

Although much of their language and culture remains a mystery to the outside world, as the story goes, due to the ancient tribe’s loyalty and devotion, they were said to have been gifted by their Goddess the power of second sight, an affinity to heal the injured and harness the element of water, although in reality, only those within the royal line of priestesses possessed these gifts. It was these likely these rumours and the greed of men that caused the destruction and obliteration of this peaceful tribe.

The ancient and secret community had existed for hundreds of years without interaction from the outside world until the day Azura turned 16 years old. On that day, she woke to scent of smoke and blood. Her ears filled with screams of pain and fear. A group of unknown men, foreign men, had attacked in the early hours of the morning whilst the village slept, intent on discovering the secrets of Melusine and her followers. When Azura stepped outside into the rising sun, the village was bathed in an eerie glow of orange and red, and she struggled to adjust her eyes to the scene of horror and violence erupting in front of her. Her two younger sisters lay dead at her feet, mutilated and staring up at her with blank eyes.
Men in strange brightly coloured garments of materials she had never seen before were methodically setting each home alight and forcing the panicked occupants back inside at random to be burnt alive, beating at them savagely with weapons when they tried to escape. Men, women and children ran for their lives but were pursued and clubbed to death, raped or tortured right beside their fallen family members. Mothers screamed as infants were ripped from their arms and thrown carelessly into the dirt. And whilst their sacred idols and temples began to burn to the ground, in the centre of all of the chaos and violence, was a man who stood out as the leader of the group, shouting demands and issuing orders.

Azura watched in horror as his men dragged her mother by her striking red hair as she fought and threw her at their leader’s feet. She was easily identifiable as the High Priestess and someone of importance by the elaborate headdress adorned upon her head. Azura watched as the leader, with his dark unkempt hair and eyes concealed behind strange shades, forced Seraphina to look at him by gripping her by the chin before pulling the woman up by her hair. He indicated in rudimentary body language that she take he and his men to their most sacred spring but Seraphina and the others remained defiant and mute.

Whilst Azura tried to intervene and rescue her mother, she only succeeded in drawing attention to herself and the leader who would forever remember the young girl’s vivid sea green eyes as she barrelled her small fists into his midsection uselessly. It was at this moment Azura knew that everything was lost to her and she fled into the wild forest that bordered the village with her mother’s final words echoing in her ears.

“Run. Save yourself. Keep Melusina alive. You are the last..”

The words were cut off with a choked gurgle and Azura glanced over one tattooed shoulder as she ran, catching a brief glimpse of blood running down her mother’s dusty brown dress before she collapsed in a crumpled heap.

As news of the massacre spread to the rest of the civilised world, people continued to insist that the Akaari never existed to begin with as the alleged invaders were never identified nor had any of the secrets they may have learned been exposed. Those that do believe the myths are of the opinion that there were no survivors to the slaughter.

Azura spent the next few years surviving in the rough wilderness of the mountains of her former home, avoiding the detection of the murderers who still roamed and hunted for both the last Akaari and the secret location of their sacred sites before she finally left for civilisation and to learn about the world she had been kept hidden from. When it was safe to do so, she returned to her village to give her family and tribe members a traditional sea burial. Azura visits her the remnants of her home several times a year to perform sacred rituals and uphold the Akaari’s worship to their goddess.

Akaari Culture
There is no such thing as a male Akaari, although the women do produce male offspring occasionally. Women who are of age would travel once every three months to a neighbouring community of men for pre-arranged fertility festivals and celebrations, the unions created at this time are made out of necessity, and so the concept of love is foreign to their people. The only males permitted to live in the sacred land of Melusine are young infants and children awaiting the age where they will be moved on to other villages and elderly men as all former sons are allowed to return to their birth land to await death.

Akaari women are very spiritual and have a strong connection to the land and animals within it who are often drawn to them simply by song or comforting sounds. This deep connection often can produce surprising results including shared pain.

Personality
-Skilled at wildness survival, Azura is agile and graceful with quick reflexes, but can often appear awkward and clumsy when out of her natural element.
-Can be naive and childish at times as due to her isolated upbringing and peaceful nature she often lacks appropriate social skills.
-Often mistrustful and guarded especially around men.
-Can be quick to strong emotion, usually anger, due to the trauma and violence she has experienced.
-Outwardly perception that she is weak or easily manipulated however she has a keen intuition that she relies on to keep safe and others misguided in their assumptions of her.