Uleme
Uleme heads the herd, with his young life mate, Py'via. Uleme's age has not been revealed, but he is most definitely an ancient. His father was the centaur to crown Medusa many, many years ago.
Unlike many of his mythological ancestors, he is of a passive nature. But, should anyone harm Nyoka, whom he considers a daughter after many trials or any of his herd - especially his family: Py'via, Adonis, and Jessenia - you will see the fierceness in him.
More often than not, Uleme can be seen with a placid look on his face. He is not likely to fly off the handle over anything, and he is known to keep his cool in many a dire situation. It is not often that you will see him smiling, as he keeps his emotions in check, even happiness. Those who have been fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the smile are Py'via and Nyoka, those whom he holds closest to his heart.
Py'via
Before she was a guardian, before she was a lifemate, she was a daughter. She was a part of a grand tradition once. Her family's herd watched over the Emerald Forest, and had for generations. She was but a youngling when this changed, and the two leggers came. They brought death in their wake, a sickness that slowly withered the body till the elders were but skin and bones, the adults weak as newborns, and the children lost without both. The ones with two legs offered their apologies through gifts and soft words, but the damage had been done. Many of them left, their guilt showing in their eyes. She could not bring herself to hate them. The other children did not wish to remain, fearing the remains of the fallen. Only she dared to approach the bodies to drag them to the ceremonial pyre. She vowed to stay strong and to live as her parents would have wished as she watched her village burn. Naught but ash, to kill the sickness. The forest had to be protected.
The two legs came back, finding only her. She was curled up in the hollow that once served as her family's floor, dried leaves and soot fluttering around her in a protective haze. She woke to find herself in a small grove, the animals of the wood surrounding her in a circle. She was stunned to see another centaur among them, who smiled down at her with her friendly brown eyes. "You poor thing," the female taur murmured, a dark wooden staff lightly thunking into the soft earth by her right front hoof. "I leave for my vision quest, and I return to find but one of my kinsmen alive."
"Shhh," she shushed as Py'via started to speak, "Tis not the time for words. I know what has happened. However, I cannot stay, as my calling leads me elsewhere. I cannot leave you here as you are. Such memories would tear at your young mind. I will take away your pain, and return it when my path brings me back home."
The tall female then began to chant softly in the language of the elders, something that Py'via had always wanted to learn but was told she wasn't yet ready. There was a waving of fingers as the taur's words intensified, then a bright flash of ivy tinged light...
As a child, she was fearless. Py'via found Uleme as he did his patrol through the Emerald Forest, and was immediately friendly to him. She was an inquisitive child at the time, curious about him and everything that he had with him. She explained that she'd been taken in by an elven woman who lived nearby, and didn't remember her past in the slightest. Eirnae is the one who named her, and perhaps it's mere coincidence that she was called 'Lucky Sapphire', as the shadowdancer had no idea just how lucky Py'via really was to survive the plague that killed most of her herd. Py'via soon took to following Uleme on his patrols, learning the use of the longbow from Eirnae and occasionally Nyoka as she furthered her own personal quest to match Uleme's skill with the weapon.
Now that she has had her memories returned, Elvanna has become a part of their herd. She bears the druidic taur no malise, and even thinks of her as a link to her old herd's legend. Time only pauses briefly, and only then for those who intimately understand its workings. Py'via is no such individual, and so she grew. It was not a slow process, for her people lurch from one body's form to another in a matter of days. One day Uleme was receiving a hug about one of his forelegs from a brazen little girl, and but a few later he was greeted with a wave from a lush centaur woman. Py'via knew little of the act of seducing a mate, so their coming together was by pure instinct in the end. She has matured to be a staunch defender of the Emerald Forest at the side of her lifemate, and a loving mother to her two 'blessings', as she calls Adonis and Jessenia. She has a playful streak that runs deep, her being the one that entertained the little ones as they grew up with inventive games designed to teach them how to work together. She focuses her time on patroling the forest with Uleme, checking in with the families that stay in Emerald Manor, staying on the lookout for rare herbs amongst the greenery, and learning more of her family's heritage from Elvanna.
