Background
To the Drykas way of life, Neci has a rather bland background. She was born as the eldest child to Celine and Argus Fieldstalker of the Emerald Clan, which were known for their skilled and talented hunters. Celine was the second wife of Argus, a pale skinned beauty from Ruby Clan, whose exceptional handiwork was much regarded throughout Endrykas. Krahya, as tanned as Celine was pale, was the first wife of Argus and birthed two children to him before an unfortunate hunting accident took her life a year before Argus’ marriage to Celine.
Skata was Krahya and Argus’ eldest child. With her mother’s naturally sun kissed skin, dark hair, and eyes the color of fresh honey, the girl was considered a wild and exotic beauty of the Drykas. She was tall, standing at a height of six feet (6’0”) and towering over most of the other girls, with scrumptious curves and one of the gentlest dispositions one could have in that day-and-age. She was chosen by the stallion Segen in her twenty-fifth year (25), and proudly adorned the most respected windmarks a few weeks afterward. She was then married to a male of the Topaz Clan and left the Fieldstalker pavilion in the middle of the summer of her twenty-sixth year (26).
Jin was the second child and first son born to Krahya and Argus. Much like his sister and mother, he sported seemingly flawless sun kissed skin with a pair of striking stormy blue eyes. However, he inherited Argus’ strawberry blonde locks – helping him to stand out in a crowd. That, paired with his tall height of six feet and three inches (6’3”) and slim yet muscled build, caused most females to find him strikingly handsome.
Jin excelled at most practices within and outside the Emerald Clan, deeming him a sort of prodigy among his pavilion. Unlike his sister, who enjoyed the company of others, he preferred to be solitary. He enjoyed doing things on his own, which attributed to his natural tendency to excel at projects – regardless if it required group effort or not. He lived by his own rules, though abide by the Drykas laws – finding loop holes in the commandments whenever he could in order to get a better sense of what he deemed was “freedom”. He was chosen by the stallion Corr in his sixth year (6), the youngest chosen in generation’s within the Fieldstalker Pavilion, gaining the honored windmarks soon afterwards.
Neci was born in the summer five years after Jin (six after Skala), only months after Celine and Argus’ marriage union. Being the only wife of Argus, Celine gracefully took charge in raising Skata and Jin while nursing her newborn babe. While Skata grew close to the woman, Jin continued to keep his distance – though whether because he honestly disliked her or simply preferred not to be mothered was unclear. In the winter of Neci’s third year, Rowen, her brother, was born. He was a sickly child, and was often given to the care of the Opal Clan when high fever’s suddenly spiked. Celine’s attention, which had once been divided evenly among all her children, was slowly beginning to narrow solely on her weak babe.
At that time, Skata was already nine and Jin had just turned eight, and little Neci, who was used to being doted on as the youngest, began to rebel against her mother’s sole attention on Rowen. She began to misbehave, drawing attention to her whenever she could. Of course, Celine, who was weary from caring for Rowen, hadn’t the patience to deal with her daughter’s mischief, and often became quickly cross with her and sent her off with a good spanking. It was around that time Neci began to idolize Jin as both a role model and worthy adversary.
His exceptional skills at activities and subjects sparked to life her proud, competitive nature, and soon her attention was driven away from her mother and infant brother to the youthful eight-year-old. Jin, preferring solitude to company, tried to keep his distance from her – but it was to no avail. She was determined to learn from him, compete with him; so much so she began pestering him to the point of madness. The unlikely duo played off each other’s strengths and weaknesses once Jin learned to deal with his sister's determination. Neci forced him to break out of his shy shell (much to the displeasure of others once they realized he was rather self-important and much too prideful for his own good), while Jin became her inspiration to excel and better herself.
In time, Rowen’s health began showing improvements, and he was soon running around with the other Pavilion and Clan children. It wasn’t until Neci was in her thirteenth (13) year was she chosen by a newborn filly she later named Stella. Stella was sired by her father’s stallion, Yvan, and his mate Ginger. With a light Palomino coat, Neci decided to name her Stella due to the stardust-like color of the filly’s mane and tail.
At first Neci wasn’t especially pleased with her chosen strider. She had idolized Jin’s stallion, Corr, who was taller than the normal strider and appeared to be much more able bodied as well. Compared to the sill growing filly, Corr was the perfect strider companion. Because of this, Neci soon found herself feeling inferior to her brother, which caused her adversity towards him to increase significantly. As Stella began to grow and mature, Neci began to take more of an interest in her. While she knew Stella wouldn’t grow to be as tall as Corr, she was pleased when the mare reached a full fifteen hands in height upon maturity – a hand taller than bother Yvan and Ginger, who stood at only fourteen (14) and fourteen-and-a-half (14 ½) hands. She was especially nimble, and made a good hunting partner due to her not becoming spooked easily; though Neci quickly found out that the mare would become lazy if she wasn’t watched carefully.
Upon reaching maturity at sixteen years, her father presented her with a short bow and began training her in the art of archery. It was easy to tell that Neci hadn’t inherited her father and brother’s natural ability to use a bow, and often became frustrated when the arrow missed its mark (with was more often than not). She began training with her father in other areas as well. She learned how to navigate the grass lands, how to survive in the wild, which God’s and Goddesses were in need of thanks when they were given something useful. She adopted the goddess Caiyha as her primary deity after learning about her and her domain, often stopping to give her thanks to the goddess whenever the situation allotted it.
Not only did she train with her father, though, she also trained with her mother. Her mother taught her how to braid and weave baskets and other essentials, things the woman had learned during her stay in the Ruby Clan. Neci didn’t take to it very well, finding it exceedingly dull compared to galloping out in the fields with Stella. After a few years of her mother’s instruction, she all but abandoned the practice (save for the times she braided her hair or Stella’s main) and committed herself to fully learning the ways of the Emerald Clan’s hunters. |
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