Yosen Dower

[Yosen Dower]

Basic Information Race: Human Birthday: 16th Spring, 497 AV Age: 18 Gender: Female Physical Description Yosen Dower is not what comes to mind when most people think of a warrior-monk, and she doesn't mind. Her hair is ash blond, cut as short as she could convince the barber to take it in a pixie cut. Her eyes are a light blue, with a spark in them that hints at the liveliness of the spirit within. Her face is fairly fine-boned and her figure is slim, almost willowy. She stands erect, rarely slouching and letting her eyes roam over the environment, giving each individual item equal attention. Her fingers are slim, almost petite, but the dirt almost permanently stuck under her fingernails and the calluses on her fingertips and palms belay any notion that these are delicate hands. The overwhelming impression received from Yosen flip flops between of barely-controlled excitement as she waits for an excuse to dive into a problem or rant about her latest discovery and a silent detachment as her mind works in top gear on a new question, totally absorbed in her thinking.

[Yosen Dower]

History Yosen is the only child of a moderately successful merchant from the East Quarter of Nyka, her family perched in that comfortable niche between truly rich and working class. Golden bracelets and lavish parties weren't exactly the norm, but rich tapestries sat on the walls in most rooms and the work of Xannos' monks was apparent in the candelabras on the tables and occasional jewelry that hung from Yosen's mother's neck or sat on her father's fingers. Yosen herself was never much one for jewelry, much preferring to study the perfectly crafted cogs of the expensive grandfather clock that sat in the dining room and how they fit together to make the hands move just so. The clock had set Yosen's father, Gerard, back some 200 mizas, so he was understandably upset when he found a 10-year-old Yosen hunched over at her desk with its metallic innards splayed out before her. After a brief shouting match, Yosen sullenly replaced what she'd removed-not without a little difficulty-and shuffled back to her room where she was forced to stay until Gerard determined that she'd learned her lesson-and she had. Gerard never caught her so much as glancing at the clock again, but he swore that every now and then he'd find the latch on its beautifully carved back-panel undone. Some time after, Yosen found herself sitting on the front steps of the house, sketching with chalk on slate one of her “foolish little ideas” as her mother Maureen called them. Later, she found she didn't even remember what it had been, but it didn't really matter. What did matter was what made her pick her head up from the slate, the curtain of her hair falling back around her face. Two monks of Laat were going from building to building distributing the day's rations, nothing new or strange. Somehow though, some glint of light or unexpected shadow drew Yosen's eye to the hearty, crusty bread sitting on top of one of the monk's bags. As they moved from house to house, drawing closer, a question began to percolate in the back corners of her mind, spilling out of her mouth quite by accident. “Where does it come from?” she blurted as the monks dropped off the daily ration at her door. Both turned toward her instantly, startled for a very brief moment by the noise. One looked at her, and with a shrug, gave an answer that would drastically change the direction Yosen's life would take. “Skerr's boys from the South Quarter drop it off.” he grunted, and with that, the two headed off to the next house in the neighborhood. Of course Yosen had known about the monks of Skerr, after all, not a day passed when her mother didn't grumble over what she'd got in the rations with her circle of friends; it was almost a recognized pastime of the city. Her question went deeper than that though. Yosen had heard of the great farmlands outside the city, and Loro down the block said he'd seen the wagons bringing in grain before, but it went even farther than that. She was fascinated by complicated systems, and finally, here was a system even more difficult to understand than the big grandfather clock. So she started visiting the South Quarter, breathing in the scent of roasting food like sweet perfume and trailing after the monks of Skerr as they went about their business. Questions tumbled out of her, and after a few days of curt replies, the monks started to warm up to her, appreciating her hunger for knowledge about the earth. It wasn't unusual for her to spend the whole day there, soaking up every solitary drop of information the monks doled out about planting times, harvest ratios, weed issues...she ate, breathed and slept agriculture. Her father, who had just begun to teach Yosen about his business, found her...less than receptive, and no doubt, with her always hanging around those petching South Quarter monks! He forbid the young woman from hanging around the monks of Skerr, and even went so far as to introduce her to some of Laat's followers that he regularly did business with, hoping that she'd take to them instead. No such luck. Yosen had already chosen the only career she'd ever take up, and that was farming. Of course, from the moment she realized this, she realized that she'd have to become a monk, and to do that meant being able to crack a few heads. No better way to learn than by doing, right? So Yosen started brawling. She was able to explain away the first few bruises and scrapes—it is Nyka, and fights are sometimes unavoidable—but when she stumbled back into the house with a new injury every night for a week? It was hardly surprising that her father realized something was up. After a few minutes he finally managed to get the truth from her, that she was training, and that she fully intended to join the monks. Misunderstanding entirely and thinking that his introduction to those monks of Laat had inspired her, he begrudgingly set her up with one of the fighting tutors in the quarter. He wasn't exactly pleased that his daughter would be taking a Vow of Hardship, meaning he'd have to find someone else to take over the family business, but at least she'd be in the Eastern Quarter, and being a monk meant certain privileges, after all... Imagine poor Gerard's surprise when, on the day of application, Yosen was nowhere to be found in the Eastern Quarter at all. Instead, she was in the Southern quarter, waiting to be paired up for her first match. Skills Agriculture: 29/100 (15RB+14SP) Botany: 5/100(5SP) Brawling: 5/100(5SP) Wrestling: 26/100(26SP) Lores Lore of Nykan Staple Crops Lore of Nykan Superstitions Languages Fluent: Common Basic: Kontinese Poor: Shiber Equipment/Possessions 1 Set of Clothing (Loose, cream-colored trousers with a leather belt. Short-sleeved shirt of the same color and a light grey woolen cloak. Well-worn sandals.) 1 Waterskin 1 Backpack which contains: 1 Set of Toiletries (comb, brush, soap) Food for a week 1 eating knife Flint & Steel A bent and battered Laat with a string threaded through the center, worn as a pendant (Heirloom) Ledger 100 Laat (Starting coin) +500 Laat (Cashed in shelter) 600 Laat Thread List The Fight Yosen begins the Selection Test to become a monk of Skerr (20 Fall 515AV)