Legends of Belariath
Indigo Reece
The village was left in almost complete ruin, thick black smoke ascending into the early morning sky. Those who had lived through the night of terror at the hands of what would later be described as 'Painted Ravagers of Death' would be left to pick up the pieces. Nevil and Saerah Reece were amongst these, grieving the fact that their daughter, Oleya, had been taken by these tall, blonde, savages.
Weeks later a wounded and emaciated Oleya stumbled back into town. Taken to the healer, she survived to tell her tale. She had been used and abused by all of the men who had taken her repeatedly, then when they were done, they had beaten her severely and tossed her off a cliff. She had awakened on a ledge below, still tasting blood in her mouth and found herself alive and alone but gravely injured.
Within the month after returning home to her parents, she found she was with child. Nevil and Saerah were horrified that their poor daughter, already so scarred from what had happened, had to live with a constant reminder of her experience. They talked much about it, deciding whether to end the baby's life, give it to the orphanage to raise or to take on the responsibility of raising it. Ultimately, their conscience wouldn't allow them to kill a child, fearing what the Gods might do to them if they did this heinous act. The town's orphanage was full already and was quickly dismissed. The only thing left to do was to take on the raising of the baby, if it survived to birth, so that Oleya could have the chance to live her own life and maybe have a good Husband and family, not marred by the stigma of having her rapists' bastard hanging over her head.
Once this was decided, they family left to visit relatives for couple of years, Oleya gave birth to a healthy little girl with blonde locks and Nevil's unusual eye-color. Saerah made a big deal of pretending that her and Nevil had been blessed with the child at their age and when they returned back to town to their newly-renovated home, they began the ruse that Indigo, as she was named, was Oleya's new little sister. Oleya eventually met a young man and married well, leaving to begin a new life and Nevil and Saerah were left to continue to raise their secret shame.
In some ways, Indigo never wanted for anything, though it couldn't be looked upon as a lavish existence by any stretch of the imagination. What was missing was love. Her 'parents' never forgot why the girl was alive and bore her no adoration, while there was no real hate, either. She learned to blend into the background, early, and not bring down anger from them upon herself. She became an attentive student and learned at a furious pace, determined to make 'mama and papa' proud. She supposed in retrospect that they were but it was an empty victory for her. Eventually, as she entered her teen years she found ways to act out, garnering the wrong kind of attention from Nevil and Saerah where once she had only sought to either be invisible or crave their approval. A local thieve's guild lured her, her height and strength impressing them. She became a 'heavy' and it quickly became apparent she was a natural with weapons, especially the bow. Under the influence of the Guild, she did things...murdered people, st ole things, all without asking any questions. She was loyal to a fault for several years, moving out from the house she'd been raised in and taking only the clothing on her back and her mother's maiden name. Yes, she had discovered the truth about herself during an angry exchange with her grandparents and now she fully understood why they would never love her.
Somewhere along the way, Indigo grew into a woman. Over six feet tall now, wide of shoulder with long arms and legs, she was now physically in tune with the rest of herself. She learned to side-step any romantic advances with ease, talking her way free without offending anyone in the process. She became proficient with downplaying her gender and being 'just one of the boys', utelizing her ability to blend into situations to her advantage.
It took the death of a friend, one of those that she had grown up with, by the Guild's hand to open her eyes to who she had given her fealty and devotion to for so long. She knew what she was doing, signing her own death warrant if they caught her, but she left that night and 'escaped' into the woods, using the tricks she had learned to survive as best she could and expanding the knowledge as she struggled to exist. Bounty Hunters pursued her for a while, a few that would become food for the denizens of the forest. In time, pursuit of her waned, though she was far from relaxed. Deciding to make a den in a cave outside of Nanthalion, she spent a brutal Winter. The months were hard on her already lean body, near starving before Spring finally arrived. It was then that she emerged and made her way into civilization, her blonde locks cut short and form now lanky almost to the point of willowy. She used the mehrial she had to outfit herself and began to pursue employment, preferably with a Noble House that wou ld provide her some form of protection, if necessary and give her the chance to show her Loyalty to Someone worthwhile. She gave that allegiance to Viktor Corsarris and the War Lady, Vorzheva and for over a year she did her duty to them. During that period she encountered bears, animals that would leave visible scars upon her body. She has claw marks of a black bear on her back near shoulder blades and the rakes of a Grizzly upon one thigh, along with proof of a tree branch that impaled her right thigh. She garnered the attention of a Mist Raider who she began to refer to as her 'shadow stalker' who shaped her decisions for the future in some ways and managed to bi-pass her heart's defenses, only to disappear into the night as one of his kind often does. She also learned that even though she was adept at avoiding most, it didn't mean she was safe from the same violence that she had been born from. Though she never saw his true visage, the cloaked man took her virginity mercilessly, though the first encounter was far less vicious that the second time in the Inn. He has become her hated enemy and she vows one day she will get revenge against this 'filthy rapist'.
Currently, she is employed by Lord Ray`el in Thallis, the Moriel Lord having saved her life during Akril's siege of Thallis. Always one to pay her debts and realizing after Captaining The Black Dragon for House Corsarris that she really could die at any time while still owing Ray`el, she revealed her knowledge to the Moriel and he accepted her life debt to him and requires her full yielding of herself. She has given her word that it is his and resigned from High Road, serving him and Lady Naomh as they bid her.