Welcome to Gaia! ::

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Gaia Username:
Natsube

Entering for:
Not applicable XD

Child Name:
Irelia

Guardian(s):
Asher

Guardian Background:
Asher grew up in a small town outside of a major temple. His parents were not unkind, but they were barely part of his life at all, far too interested in life as the Clan Elders (instead of headsman, because I can’t think of a P.C. version), the only people considered to be of any importance in his town. Asher grew up wanting for nothing, but also receiving nothing in the way of love or affection. He was starved for love, and would cling to any being that showed him any kindness at all, regardless of who they were. His friends were comprised mostly of thieves, beggars and slaves, not the fitting companions to a child of the local nobility. Asher kept to himself, and mostly moved around with the other children, watching how they behaved but rarely joining in. He needed their companionship for his own sanity and wellbeing but that did not mean that he understood how to act in such a social situation.

Asher grew up, and left behind the childhood “romps” with the other children and left to join the temple, disappointing his parents greatly as he was their only child and heir. Asher had retreated almost fully in to his own mind, taking oaths of silence and rarely venturing out of his rough stone room. Asher rarely smiled and would occasionally be seen wandering the halls of the temple late at night, dressed all in white and looking for all the world like an ethereal spirit. Asher is somewhat vain, and dresses to accentuate what he has. He has long platinum white hair, dark blue eyes and extremely pale skin. He wears rich clothing all in silver, blues and whites, and what jewelry he wears is always silver. Eventually, even the priests at the temple began to wonder if Asher was still sane, and broke Asher’s binding oaths to the temple, throwing him out on a quest of knowledge. The quest? Find love. Find hope. Find happiness.


Child Personality:
Irelia is a know-it-all, a busybody and particularly nosy. She gets in everyone’s business, including Asher’s, and will constantly badger everyone for information. Irelia loves secrets and gossip, and always tells the first person she sees top-secret information that she swore she wouldn’t repeat. Its not until she’s older that she realizes just how much people will pay for such secrets… and pay for the same secrets to be kept secret.

Irelia loves to talk and will be seen constantly swinging her arms to and fro, talking with her whole body. She’s rude, crass and more than a little bit obnoxious. She gets right to the point and will say what she means. She’s an energetic child and talks fast. She may be small, but she’s stubborn. Irelia has a lot of rough patches in her personality, but she manages to get away with a lot because she’s smart. REALLY smart. She can talk her way around you and can fool most people in to believing they never really saw her at all. The only person she has trouble fooling is Asher, who has seen and heard it all, like all good parents should.

As of right now, Irelia has no real redeeming qualities, other than she is interesting company.

Writing Prompt:
“Lovely. A winter wonderland.”
Asher was trying to push his way through the thick blanket of snow that had decided to drape itself so unbecomingly along the road that he was currently trying to get through. It had been snowing all night and all day, and the snow was almost up to his chest, covering another layer of snow that had turned to ice on the road. It was nearly impossible to tell exactly where the road was, and if Asher didn’t know this area so well, he would probably be hopelessly lost.

“I hate the cold. I hate the wet. I even hate this warm horse, because horsehair is all over me and all I can taste is horse sweat. Are we there yet?”

A young woman was sitting on the horse that Asher was trying to lead through the snow, looking cross. Nothing much could be seen of her, since she was so wrapped up in blankets and furs. Her nose was beet red, her nose was running and she looked miserable. But she was the one getting the free ride while Asher did all the hard work.

“My dear, we are closer to the town today than we were yesterday. That’s all I can tell you.”

“Poppycock. You lived in these woods all of your life and you should know them like the back of your hand. I’d like to be warm and dry sometime in the next century, thank you very much. Why are we even traveling in this weather? We never leave the main city during the winter, and all you will tell me is ‘It’s important. Don’t ask questions.’ I’m sick of all this silly secrecy!”

Asher ignored Irelia and kept plodding onwards, trying to keep the old horse from stepping in any icy potholes created by merchant carts. Sixteen years old and still acting like a spoiled brat. Irelia was sniffing loudly, seeming to accentuate the fact that she was cold and wet. She’s probably hungry too. She’ll be wailing about that soon enough. My own fault, of course.

Eerily enough, Irelia chimed up that she was hungry not two steps after that thought. At least she’s punctual.

Asher stopped the horse and looked around, one hand up in the air. Irelia fell silent, and settled back in to the saddle; there was no talking to him now. A flaming arrow appeared out of the slowly dimming late afternoon sky and Irelia shrieked as it flew fifty feet over her head. Asher grinned, and offered his hand up to Irelia.

“Down you go.”

“That. Was. A. Flaming. Arrow.”

Asher rolled his eyes.

“Yes, that arrow was indeed on fire. Bright and shiny and probably warmer than you are at the moment,” Irelia refused to get down and Asher sighed, “I arranged for us to stay at a little inn run by a friend of mine. One of his sons was probably watching for us and that arrow was the signal for us to follow them. Come on, you silly goose.”

Irelia hopped down with the help of her father, and floundered as she hit the soggy snow.

“Agh,” Irelia exclaimed quite loudly and with much passion.

She tried to move forward, but her blankets were so soggy that it was hard for her to even take a step.

Irelia burst out laughing, so fed up with her current situation that she found it funny.

“I’m stuck!” Irelia called up, trying to smother her giggles but failing miserably. Asher grinned in spite of himself and waded back to Irelia. He threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, with Irelia still cackling madly to herself.

It wasn’t long before they had trudged up a little incline and came upon a tiny house in the middle of a small clearing. The house was covered in snow and the roof was sagging under the weight but the windows glowed with a cheery yellow light from the fire within.

A young man stood in the middle of the clearing, waving at Asher and his cargo.

“I’ve sent one of my brothers to collect your horse. It shouldn’t be too long.” He didn’t wait for Asher to catch up to him but turned and ran in the direction of the house.

“That was-“ Asher cut off Irelia mid-sentence.

“He’s going to warn his family that we’re about to come in. Nothing rude in the least.”

Irelia snorted, but had no retort.

By the time Irelia had finally gotten warm, it was almost witching hour and she felt that it was high time that she got some rest. And probably some food, but not in that order. Asher still looked frozen, his pale skin and hair seeming to add to that perception. Asher sneezed loudly and the lady of the house, Beth, whisked a kerchief under his nose before the next one hit him.

“Goodness me, you have a dreadful cold. Its no wonder, the likes of you sifting through all of that muck out there,” Beth handed Irelia and Asher steaming mugs of tea, and settled her round bottom on a low stool. An assortment of odd chairs held an equally odd assortment of men, from the ages of four to around sixty or seventy. They all seemed to be staring at Irelia, who shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

“What are they all looking at?” Irelia whispered to Asher.

Asher chuckled. Her one redeeming quality…

Irelia was beautiful. Her hair was copper coloured and fell to her waist in little ringlets, unbound while it was drying. Her skin was darker than any in the room, slightly lighter than her hair. She had golden horns on the helm of her head and they almost glittered in the firelight. She looked like an exotic goddess in bloom, not one of the delicate ladies that these men had seen all their lives. But Irelia was used to living in the shadow of Asher, who seemed to be the object of desire for all of the ladies they had ever met. Irelia was used to these pale, cold people, their pale hair, skin and eyes; in contrast, she was dark and warm. With all of Irelia’s odd quirks, Asher would have bet gold on the outcome of her vanity. But Irelia had not a vain bone in her body, and dressed simply, often escaping the looks of men by dressing herself in layers and layers of fabric.

Beth clucked at the men, and waved her hands in a shooing motion.

“Off to bed, the lot of you; you too, my husband. I have important things to discuss with these travelers.”

Beth closed the door behind the last man, and locked the door. She sat back down on her stool, and looked sharply between Asher and Irelia.

“Well, it seems as if the storms conspired to delay us from meeting, but here you are, right on time. You must have mighty gods working for you, Asher.”

Asher bowed his head, but said nothing. Beth smiled sweetly, and took Irelia’s hand.

“It had been sixteen long years since I held your hand. You were a sweet child, different from any that I had ever seen before, a gift from the gods. Asher has told you the story of your birth, correct?”

Irelia nodded, a little stunned. Suddenly, this coarse and underbred woman was talking like a noble of some sort and Irelia didn’t like it one bit. She was having airs of some sort, but Asher wasn’t taking any offence by it.

Beth stood up and reached in to a tall vase on top of her mantel and pulled out a package wrapped in plain brown paper. She handed it to Irelia.

“What is this? And who are you? You are definitely not the ill-bred farmer’s wife that you disguise yourself as. Exactly what relationship do you have with my father?”

Beth chuckled, and nodded to the package.

“Open it. All will be revealed in time.”

Irelia opened the package, taking her time with the plain paper. Something odd was happening, and if this package contained something that would be interesting, she wanted to make sure that she could examine the paper fully later. She finished unwrapping the package, and dropped the paper on her lap. A small, thick leather-bound book was what the paper revealed. It had a thick silver clasp with designs of odd creatures burnt in to both the leather and the silverwork. It was heavier than it looked. The paper in her lap started to crinkle on its own accord and burst in to flames, burning up in seconds, leaving only ash.

“What…” Irelia began but couldn’t finish. There were too many odd things going on at the moment for Irelia to even begin to question them.

“That was phoenix paper. Dreadfully expensive and horribly inhumane, killing those poor animals for magical purposes, but it had to be done. One those whose blood was used to tie the package together would know the whereabouts of the product contained and only the hands used to tie the package together would be able to open it again.”

“I don’t remember closing up any package, nor giving my blood. Not willingly, at least.”

Asher smiled at Irelia.

“You were just a baby. I had to help, but I was trusted. Part of the inner circle, so to speak.”

Irelia stood up suddenly, and walked over to the door.

“You two are annoying. You speak in code and will not tell me anything important, only the paper used to conceal the object that I really want to know about. You speak of things that I know nothing of in my presence, and expect me to follow the conversation. I’d rather leave and go to bed, thank you very much. We can talk of this on the ‘morrow.”

Irelia turned to open the lock, but Beth stood between Irelia and the door.

“No. There will be no tomorrow for you if you do not sit still and listen to us old fools talk of times past. I might be longwinded, and Asher has always been closed-mouthed, but we will tell you all you need to know. This is the most important night of your life.”

Irelia stalked back over to her chair and threw herself down in to it, crossing her arms angrily.

“I thought you liked secrets?” Asher said quietly to his sullen daughter.

“Not when they’re about me,” Irelia said crossly, “Anyways, what’s so important about my sixteenth birthday? That is why you wanted us here tonight.”

“No child. While it does happen to be your birthday, tonight is the winter equinox. But there is also a full moon out tonight. That is definitely not something normal, nor is it natural. You were raised as a noble, and I know you took extensive astronomy classes. I would have thought you would notice that at least.”

Irelia blushed lightly.

“I was cold and wet-“

“You will die if you do not pay closer attention to your surroundings, regardless of where you are, or how much you hurt. You need to be strong enough to be able to watch everything with a cool eye, even when you are in the middle of a war and terribly wounded.”

“But why? You haven’t told me any reason why I must do this, nor what the full moon or winter equinox has to do with anything at all!”

“Settle down, Irelia. Aren’t you always going on about how I need to treat you like an adult? Now is the time to act like one.”

Beth stood up, and opened the drapes on one of the windows, letting the white moonlight spill though.

“Irelia, come here.”

Irelia stood up and walked over the Beth, oddly complacent. Asher followed, but stayed out of the moonlight.


“Sixteen years ago, your father found you on a night exactly like this. Months before, astronomers all over the kingdom were spouting portents of death and destruction, but only one group spoke of this night as a blessing. That man gained the king’s trust, and soon, that man was the head of all the temples in the kingdom. When this day finally dawned, the king grew ill and died before midday. No women gave birth to children, and monsters were seen roaming the streets and woods. Now, monsters are everywhere and our new king, that astronomer imposter, is controlling them. “

Irelia nodded.

“Asher told me all of that, a long time ago after I pestered him one too many times. He often told me that the monsters would come and drag me to the king, who would kill me with a smile on his face. I never spoke of it to anyone that I met, since I would always hear them talking about how good the king is, and how just. But Asher never told me a lie in my life, so I had to take his word that he spoke the truth.”

“Good. At least I can count on you to be at least above average when it comes to learning, with a scholar such as your father teaching you,” Irelia smiled at Asher, who smiled warmly back, “The king has searched for you since coming in to power, as you were mentioned in his prophecy of blessing. We aren’t sure what exactly he needs you for, but we know that he wants you and has destroyed countless lives in order to find you.”

Irelia winced slightly, and clutched the leather-bound book tightly to her chest.

“I’m sorry to have to tell you that.”

“Whatever it is that I can do, tell me. I hope that it makes up for the lives that were lost because of me.”

Beth threw open the shutters, and an icy wind raced in to the room, blowing ice and snow around Irelia and smothering the fire. The room was suddenly dark, save for the last dying embers of the fire.

There was silence, and finally the last ember went out and it was truly dark. Dense clouds hid the moon and not a pinprick of light could be seen. Irelia was breathing loudly, terrified for no reason she could pinpoint.

“You feel him. You feel his presence for the first time in your life. The moment you touched that book you opened a channel between you and him and now you are in danger. But that book is also what makes you a danger to him.”

Irelia felt faint, as if someone was trying to stifle her.

“But why? What does this book do?” Irelia said quietly, gasping out the words.

“I do not know. I cannot open the book and neither can Asher. When you were a baby, you opened the book but the pages were blank. You are the one in control of your destiny, and you are the one who will have to find out what these portents of doom mean. I can help you as much as I can, but in the end, you will have to run and escape him. Or face him and fight, if you feel worthy of the challenge. I can’t even tell you if you will make a difference at all, but something about you is important to the future.”

“How do you know?”

The snow and wind had stopped and Irelia heard the click of the window being closed again.

“I am a priestess from the very same temple that the fake King himself pretended to be from. He fooled us all, and I heard every word of his blessed prophecy.”

“Irelia, you are a Secret Finder. But I’m sure you have already figured that out.”

Asher spoke up for the first time since the darkness and Irelia shivered. It sounded so mysterious but also so right.

“How do you know?”

“I am a priest from the temple of Ireius, just as Beth was.”

The room was illuminated suddenly by light, as Asher lit the logs in the fireplace once more. For just a split second, Irelia caught a glimpse of beautiful Beth the Priestess and smiled slightly to herself.

Oooh. Secrets.