Post by Cait on May 29, 2018 20:54:51 GMT -8
Name: Elysif Poulin (Duvant)
Pronunciation: ehl-eh-siff poo-leen (doo-vahnt)
Gender: Female
Age: 23
Turnday: 55.09.18
Weyr: Rainbow Mists Weyr
Rank: Weyrling
Family:
Pets: None yet.
Appearance: Standing at five and a half feet, Sif is possessed of a slender and soft figure. She is neither too thin nor overly plump, perhaps healthy is the proper term for it. Her muscle definition is minimal though that by no means lends to weakness. She's is simply of average strength for a young woman her size who works around the house and helps out with the animal care as much as she is able. As far as features and coloring, she is lighter in complexion with long, faintly wavy chestnut hair that falls to her mid back and rich, warm brown eyes that always seem to hold just a bit more wisdom and sadness than one might expect from a young woman her age.
Personality: Sif is generally a quiet, steady soul. Always ready with a smile for anyone she meets. She has it within her to be silly and full of life, though lately, since the death of her husband, she's mellowed out and become much more reserved. It's not necessarily that depression has taken hold or that she's dramatically lost all joy in life without her other half. As much as she loved Vortil, their relationship had been a new one, just barely past its birth. There is a wistfulness about her and occasionally Sif does get caught up in what might have been though after a year the pain has mostly retreated to leave her with a dull ache of perhaps loneliness. Having been an only child to parents who were invested in their trades, however, being lonely was nothing new. She had ways to keep herself content and in truth most days she found herself mostly content.
History:
Born in Cliffside, Elysif was an only child and more or less expected to entertain herself once she was old enough to do so. It never truly bothered her. She made a few friends among the other children and took to her studies quite readily. Despite her parents' pressuring, she showed now aptitude or interest in either weaving or carpentry though she supposed it was fascinating enough. Her interests lay with the living and breathing. People and animals interested her far more than creating things. To this end she spent much of her time when alone simply watching the people come and go from Cliffside from a low rooftop when she could and snuck into animal paddocks as well.
Of all the animals she visited, one of her favorites was a grumpy old runnerbeast that had seen better days. She'd bring the nag a treat once a day and braid her mane and comb her tail with her fingers. Despite the fact that the beast was prone to nipping and tugging hair, she seemed to enjoy the attention and her owner, completely aware of the ritual, pretended not to notice and would even accidentally leave combs and brushes laying out from time to time.
Sif's love of animals continued to grow as she did and quite frankly she preferred the presence of animals over most people. Animals were less cruel. Everything they did had a reason and a purpose. Humans on the other hand...well they were selfish and cruel and greedy. That wasn't to say that she was blind to all the good they put into the world as well, she just found animals less exhausting to be around as they required less deciphering than your average human.
It was during one of her little impromptu visits to a paddock that she met Vortil. She had just turned 20 and he was in Cliffside with his family for one reason or another. It wasn't love at first site for her by a long shot but she did find it interesting that he smelled more like livestock than anything else. That fact alone kept her from passing him by. Surely anyone that spent that much time with animals couldn't be all bad. Unaware at the time that she'd managed to catch the man's eye with her quiet surety and the way she spoke in soothing tones to the skittish runner who was in the market pens, Elysif thought nothing of it until she noticed that the man started popping up more and more frequently in Cliffside.
It would be several months before she managed to double back on him when he went to follow her into the market and confronted him. Flustered, he'd sputtered his name and blurted out the fact that she was good with animals which actually flattered her more than if he'd blurted out that she was pretty. It had been a genuine bit of admiration. Over the next several months Vortil continued to visit and the pair fell into an easy going friendship that eventually blossomed into a romance. They were married just after turnover in 3077. In an attempt to endear himself to his in-laws who had never quite understood their daughter's fascination with animals, the couple were to spend the first half of the turn in Cliffside with Elysif's parents before moving into the Weyr valley with Vortil's family. Quite frankly, Sif was looking forward to it. A valley where she could be surrounded by animals and only a few select people. She had faith that if his family was anything like Vortil, she would adore them just as much as she did her husband.
However, rather than her husband taking her to meet his family, he was taken from her a scant month before they were meant to leave for the valley. Caught up in raiding and looting in Cliffside during the attack on the Weyr, Vortil was gravely injured while trying help protect an elderly neighbor's home from being ransacked. In retrospect she didn't think it had been intentional but all the same, the future she'd begun to imagine for herself and Vortil crumbled like dried out mud. Still, despite her grief over having lost what she was sure could've been a great love and a wonderful future, Elysif decided that there was no reason why she couldn't follow through with her husbands wishes. He'd wanted her to meet his Aunt and Uncle, to be a part of his family and enjoy the beauty of the Weyr valley; to see the world as he did. How could she deny him that in death when she'd struggled to deny him anything in life?
With a chest filled with all her worldly possessions and several mementos that had belonged to Vortil, Sif had begged a ride with a caravan that was heading to the Weyr and showed up a bit early, bedraggled and puffy-eyed but thankfully welcomed into the home of her in-laws. The transition period was painful and a bit awkward. As new as their love had been it was still difficult to lose and even harder to fathom the loss of the future they had been planning together. There had been whispered late night talks of their own home and children. There had always seemed to be enough time. An eternity of time. If there was anything to be learned from her grief and her loss it was that time was finite and unfathomable. Certainly time should never be taken for granted. So once she'd properly grieved her husband and the life they could've had together, Elysif made a vow to herself to find a reason each day to be content whether it was because the sun was shining or one of Vortil's cousins had told a joke to make her laugh. She would be content and do her best to build a future that would lead to happiness.
