Marijka (prime)

Marijka ('mŭ-rī-kə'), aka Marijka Sroznaya or Marijka of Mestanir, is a female half-elf hailing from Mestanir in the Turamzzyrian Empire. She is skilled in the use of dual swords, typically being seen with a matched pair of falchions or warblades. She divides her time between Wehnimer's Landing and Solhaven, being a citizen of the former, though occasionally can be found in Icemule Trace. She claims Nicolao Glass as her foster brother.

Marijka holding up the tree in Town Square Central, as depicted by Stormyrain

Marijka Sroznaya Race [[Half-elf]] Culture [[Mestaniri]] Class Dual-class warrior/rogue Profession Serial killer Demeanor Reserved, until familiar Flaw Thrill-seeker Greatest Strength Strength Greatest Weakness Girls, particularly half-elven and dark-elven

[[Category: Half-elf player characters]] [[Category: Mestaniri player characters]]

Appearance

You see Marijka the Marauder.
She appears to be a Half-Elf from Mestanir.
She is moderately tall and has a well-toned frame.  She appears to be in the spring of life.  She has argent-flecked grey-green eyes and caramel-colored skin.  She has waist length, sleek chestnut hair swept up into a casual twist secured with a kelyn-bound hairpin.  She has an angular face and subtly pointed ears.  She has pearlescent lavender enamel brushed onto her oval fingernails.
She has a pair of amethyst studs set along the slender tips of her pointed ears.
She is wearing an ashen leather cavalier hat adorned with a bold violet feather, a crystal amulet, a tailored ash grey woolen longcoat lined in plush fox fur, a Brigatta unicorn pin, a silver falchion pin set with amethysts, an unadorned mithril relic, a slender vaalin-buckled dark leather bandolier, a faenor-leafed onyx rose ring, an elegant amethyst band, a twisted faewood ring set with bound black crystal leaves, a dark leather swordbelt cinched with a vaalin buckle, a scuffed leather kit with a mithril buckle, a silver-traced grey silk gem pouch, a scabbard, a pair of fitted pale ash-hued suede pants, and some thick wool socks with ribbed cuffs under some vaalin-buckled dark doeskin boots lined with soft lambskin.

History

A slender mail-clad figure, resolutely alone in the center of a desolate battlefield. Swords brandished threateningly, she defies the approach of friend and foe alike.

Marijka was born in Mestanir to a human woman in 5015; she never met her elven father, who her mother refused to discuss, and thus grew up knowing nothing of him. Given a virtually complete lack of supervision from an extremely young age, Marijka roamed the city on her own until finding a place for herself among the ragged orphans on the streets. While she did have a home to return to, she saw little point or benefit, and eventually stopped bothering.

At the age of ten, Mari got into a ferocious brawl with a gang of other street kids; heavily outnumbered, she nonetheless managed to eventually fight her way free. While huddled in an alley nursing her wounds, she was found by an older human man who offered to let her come home and live with him. Bemused by the concept of a safe and orderly life in a proper home, she accepted. This is where she met the young man she now calls her brother, Nicolao.

She was taken on as an apprentice alongside Nicolao to learn basic elemental magic, but by 5028, her lack of both aptitude and focus had led to the dramatic termination of her apprenticeship. Seeing little benefit in remaining as a de facto servant, she struck out on her own once again in 5029. Her once-mentor made no effort to dissuade her.

Marijka next surfaced in 5034 as a junior recruit in a small, largely unsuccessful mercenary band who eventually turned to brigandry to support themselves. Soon enough, they were defeated and scattered by their poor selection of would-be victims. Marijka continued to drift amongst groups ranging from merchant caravans to mercenaries to vigilantes to outright thieves throughout the northern Turamzzyrian Empire for the next several years, periodically abandoning each to return to Mestanir and satisfy herself that Nicolao was still alive and safe. It was during this time that she began learning swordsmanship, beginning first with a rapier and main-gauche, then experimenting with several other styles before finally settling upon her now-signature matched falchions.

In 5038 she returned to Mestanir once again, learning this time that Nicolao had been arrested and imprisoned since her previous visit. She began restricting her ranging to the more immediate area surrounding Mestanir's capital city in order to stay better apprised of his status, all the while continuing to refine her skills with her blades.

In 5103, the neighboring barony of Jantalar invaded and occupied Mestanir in its bid for expansion throughout northern Mestanir. She gained somewhat of a reputation for ferocity in battle against the initial attacks, and was rumoured to be active within resistance movements after the fall of Mestanir's defenders.

In 5114, the dark summoner Elithain Cross attacked and laid waste to two-thirds of Mestanir's capital city, as well as a great portion of its surrounding lands. In the chaos surrounding the war, Marijka took up the signature red cape of the newly forming Red Brigade. However, mere days later, she deserted as abruptly as she had joined.

In 5115, Marijka again surfaced, this time in Solhaven in the barony of Vornavis, searching for her foster brother. Eventually reunited with him, she seems to have settled in the independent city of Wehnimer's Landing and its environs for the time being.

On Fashanos 9, 5118, Marijka was one of three individuals identified as targets by the Landing vigilante killer "Spirit of Rone," due to alleged connections with Mayor Cruxophim Thirteen, previously accused by said killer of being the heart of corruption in the Landing.

Late in the evening of Fashanos 15, 5118, "Rone" made good on his threat. With a dramatic rope-swinging entry through the Mayor's office window in the Moot Hall, he abducted Marijka from amongst a group of witnesses and dragged her back out to the roof, where he killed her by evisceration.

Psychology

Marijka is on the borderline between sociopath and psychopath, with all that entails -- malignant narcissism, a deep-seated inability to accept anyone as her equal or her better, pathological lying, and a compulsive need to manipulate people into validating her self-held beliefs. Her interpersonal relationships are formed upon the basis of value defined by a person's ability to give her things she wants.

As a socio/psychopath, Marijka does not form emotional connections such as friendship. She is incapable of feeling love. The single exception is that she has a bond with Nicolao which she can neither understand nor break -- she craves his acceptance more than anything else in the world, and will do anything it takes to obtain it. It's for this reason that she tracked him down after his escape. This compulsion is a source of endless frustration and anger to her, because it proves that she is not the being of perfect control and power which she would like to believe that she is.

Sometimes, she is driven by what she refers to as her "Beast" -- an animalistic need for the hunt and the kill, quite beyond her conscious control. She can choose to resist it or not, but in the end, if she pushes against it for too long, the need will build to the point where it eventually takes over control of her body and leave her a passive observer as it carries out the rituals. She resumes control only after the victim is dead. The Beast chooses and fixates upon its own targets, and she has no influence over who may be selected.

But at the same time, she is completely comfortable taking the skills and techniques learned from the Beast and killing for her own personal needs and desires. She gains a kind of intoxicating euphoria from a successful hunt, and has a very druglike addiction to it. She's able to resist this one indefinitely given sufficient incentive, but rarely desires to. Commonly, she will kill somebody with whom she has formed a manipulative relationship but who has begun to resist her manipulations.

Marijka's biggest ongoing emotional need is to feel like she has others who are as utterly emotionally reliant upon her as she is upon Nicolao, and to prove it to her with gifts, favours, and emotional validation.

Known Affiliations

House White Haven (former)

Member of House Brigatta

Reaver of Order of the Shadow

Quotes

You quietly whisper to Goblyn, "The mark of true artistry is to use lies as one's brush to paint the truth."
Goblyn raises an eyebrow in your direction.
Goblyn whispers, "I do not like liars."
Goblyn shrugs at you.
You quietly whisper to Goblyn, "Truth is so subjective as to be meaningless.  We all lie.  Politeness is a facade, a charade.  Making an effort to be kind which does not come automatically to you is a form of lie.  Cosmetics are a lie.  The faces we present to the world are a masquerade, each with their own."
Goblyn whispers, "I.. am maybe not agreeing with this.  But maybe we do have different definitions of what it is to 'lie'.  We will maybe debate this in some day."
Speaking idly to Leafiara, you say, "So how does one determine how many useless people a useful person is worth?  That man seemed to disagree with the assessment of "hundreds," but he didn't offer another valuation in its place."
Speaking tentatively to you, Leafiara says, "Well, I think he just sees people as pure numbers... give up one to save ten, give up two to save five, as long as one number is larger..."
Speaking indifferently to you, Leafiara says, "But then he accuses -me- of not caring about people."
Speaking to Leafiara, you say, "Ridiculous.  That sounds like the sort of logic a useless person would favour."
You thoughtfully say, "It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favour of vegetarianism whilst the wolves remain of differing opinion."

OOC Observations

As Marijka's player tends to play her cards close to her chest about a lot of Marijka's history, affiliations, and involvements, other players/characters should feel welcome to add their own perceptions, experiences, and observations to this section.

• Marijka has been seen upon several occasions wearing a cassock, prayer beads, and other clerical accoutrements, representing herself as a lay sister affiliated with Everwatch Tower.