Darcena (prime)

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Darcena Wolf-Valslayer as seen by Stormyrain's player
Darcena Wolf-Valslayer the Ishan
Race Giantman
Culture Grot'karesh Hammer Clan
Vaikalimara Clan
Hometown Wehnimer's Landing
Class Empath
Religion The Huntress
Disposition Mercurial, Wild
Demeanor Playful, Helpful
Primary Trait Protector, Troublemaker
Flaw Longing for Belonging
Greatest Strength Loyalty, Unconditional Love
Greatest Weakness Bloodlust, Insanity
Likes Raw Meat, Emeralds
Dislikes Dead Wolves, Krolvin
Fears Being Alone/Unloved
Loyalties Her Pack, Grot'karesh
Best Friend Viria, Akenna, all of the pack
Loved One Madmountan and another

Darcena [dahr-SEEN-ah] stumbled into Wehnimer's Landing in 5097 at the age of thirteen. Discovered as a snarly uncommunicative child in a wolf den in the DragonSpine Mountains a few years prior, Darcena came upon the town alone and in a confusion as to her heritage. Over the years, she has learned that she is an Ur-Daemon-cursed Grot'karesh with some peculiar magical quirks to include extreme blood lust and waking nightmares she believes are prophetic. She hears the voices of those who are crying for vengeance through her connection to the spiritual magic and The Huntress. She is also a member of the Vaikalimara Clan. Darcena seems driven to heal others, never turning down a request for aid. She regularly remarks that physical pain is nothing compared to the spiritual pain she carries in her heart and mind.

Between bone-shattering hunts, Darcena is often found relaxing in the Stumbling Pebble Bar II, leaned against the [[::Hearthstone|Hearthstone Steps]], swimming in the [[::House_Sovyn|Sovyn]] mud baths, at Moonshine Manor, or chatting with friends wherever they prefer. When not in those locales, she's off scouting Elanthia for signs of Despana's imminent return on behalf of her clan members of Kilanirij.

"I am the Ishan. I am the Butcher. I am the Harbinger. Despana is coming and blood will flood the world. The eyes -- the eyes, they are watching."

Writer's note: This is all considered public knowledge. Darcena has not been shy about expressing these things in public and has probably been overheard by every possible town citizen over the past two decades. A pint at the pub would yield you a lot of this information. This is not all there is, of course, to her. She has many secrets.

Appearance

You see Darcena Wolf-Valslayer the Butcher.
She appears to be a Giantman of the Grot'karesh Clan.
Resting elegantly on her head is a wrought silver crown, the metal surface etched with intricate designs of twining ivy.  Set on either side of the crown are tiered antlers, their branching tines bleached to a pale bone white.
She is taller than average and has a well-toned frame.  She appears to have come of age.  She has bright, emerald-flecked argent silver eyes and fair skin.  She has very long, thick raven-hued hair in a loose mass of purposefully twisted locks.  She has a triangular face, high cheekbones, and a forked scar near her neckline.  Her eyes are framed by thick, naturally clumped eyelashes.
She has numerous piercings and multiple tattoos (see below).
Diagonal streaks of kohl black warpaint form a mask across her eyes, the undulating design echoed along her forehead and chin.
She gives off a wild demeanor.
She is in good shape.
A slowly rotating ring of sigils encircles each of her hands, scribed on the air in coruscating emerald-imbued argent energy.

A rendition of Darcena Wolf-Valslayer on her moose, Shikel: the image behind this link may be considered mildly not safe for work.

Ornamentation

Weapons and Armor

Outfits

Favored Titles

  • Arena Leader
  • Blood Ally of Duskruin Arena
  • Butcher
  • Captain
  • Captain of the Wehnimer's Landing Militia
  • Defender of Mist Harbor
  • Eloquent
  • Fleetfooted Legion of Duskruin Arena
  • Grand Champion of Duskruin Arena
  • Hellion
  • Historian
  • Huntress of Reim
  • Investigator
  • Lionhearted Knight
  • Lorekeeper
  • Master Blacksmith
  • Member of the Wehnimer's Landing Militia
  • Nuisance
  • Protector of the Platinum Pride
  • Roisterer
  • Runeworker
  • Swashbuckler
  • Tall Tale
  • Whirlwind of Duskruin Arena

Themes and Colors

Darcena prefers medium to dark greens, crimson (for her clan), greys, and blacks. She typically wears natural materials like leather, feathers, stone, bone, copper, and silver. She prefers glaes, zorchar, faenor, and eahnor. She frequently values items containing her personal gem (emerald), flower (bluebell), animal (wolf), and relevant Arkati and spirits.

Darcena Wolf-Valslayer at the pub as seen by Divone.

Affiliations

Hobbies

Darcena enjoys knitting, weaving, foraging, and making live sculpture from mosses and plants. She communicates using the Language of Flowers.

Darcena won first place in Cairnfang Manor's 2021 Solhaven Grand Art Exhibit with her piece titled Beguiled by Beauty.

a mossy driftwood-edged collection
Spindle-stemmed puffy balls of emerald green cushion moss coil artfully across the irregular shape created by four sinuous driftwood pieces lashed by thin strands of silver.  A short clipping of pronged red dogwood protrudes from one end of the curvilinear clumps of moss, creating three-dimensional interest, while selectively placed snake agates peek out of the moss in trios.  Mats of soft, umber moss with thicker, bushy gametophytes fill the rest of the space, dotted haphazardly by shards of bloodjewel.

When asked about the meaning behind the piece, Darcena states that it is important that we all remember how dangerous Luukos is. It is important not to be beguiled by the surface, but to look deeper and remember the past. The eyes are watching.

Pack of the Ishan

The Pack of the Ishan has no formal structure and is not recognized by any sort of authority - à propros, since Darcena likewise doesn't recognize most authority. Darcena is absolutely loyal to and protective of her pack. Conflicts within the pack are for the individual members to sort out themselves. While the below adventurers are part of Darcena's pack or associated with it, she also has a nebulous connection to wolves in the area as well who sometimes show up to help her at her call.

Members of the Pack

Near-pack

Friends of the Pack

Events

  • Mudslinging Mayhem with Moonshine Manor at Icehouse Tavern (June 2018)
  • Beasts, Monsters, and Legends - Kobolds (August 2019)
  • Tales of Divination - Ikarrak (September 2019)
  • Beasts, Monsters, and Legends - Vereri (January 2020)
  • Beasts, Monsters, and Legends - Reivers (February 2020)
  • Beasts, Monsters, and Legends - Krolvin (March 2020)
  • Beasts, Monsters, and Legends - Kiramon (April 2020)
  • Beasts, Monsters, and Legends - Hobgoblins (May 2020)
  • Beasts, Monsters, and Legends - Roa'ters (June 2020)
  • Spheres of Magic (OOC) (July 2020)
  • Beasts, Monsters, and Legends - Night, Bone, and Crystal Golems (July 2020)
  • The Magic of Empath Healing (OOC) (August 2020)
  • Beasts, Monsters, and Legends - Mistydeep Sirens (March 2021)
  • Beasts, Monsters, and Legends - Patchwork Flesh Monstrosities and Shambling Lurks (April 2021)
  • Monthly Mechanics Mashup with Leafiara (OOC) (May 2021)
  • Beasts, Monsters, and Legends - Death Dirges (June 2021)
  • Monthly Mechanics Mashup with Leafiara (OOC) (June 2021)
  • Beasts, Monsters, and Legends - Neartofar Trolls and Orcs (July 2021)
  • Monthly Mechanics Mashup with Leafiara (OOC) (July 2021)
  • Solhaven Community Festival (September 2021)
  • Countless ongoing meetings at Stumbling Pebble Bar II

Stories

A Forgotten Birth (Unknown - Spring 5094)

Up until 5119, Darcena had no memory of her past from the time of her birth up until a few months before she was found by Thraes in the Dragon Spine Mountains. What she remembered was spending time with the wolves and scavenging their kills.

During The Nazhor Chronicles in the Spring of 5119, Darcena learned about her forgotten past. The memory meek Kheelin told Darcena that her Grot'karesh father was a brute and bloodthirsty monster. Darcena's mother stayed loyal to her father, even when he went into hiding deep in the Dragonspine Mountains while Darcena was a baby. Her father told her mother that he would keep her safe and bring food and fire, but he did not, and both Darcena and her mother were weak. Darcena's mother fed Darcena all of her own food and begged her father to go back to town, but he refused. She decided to leave in order to bring Darcena to safety, but Darcena's father attacked her and swore to kill her and "the runt" if Darcena's mother left him. Darcena's mother couldn't abide this so, as a strong woman, she picked up the axe she used to split wood and planted in in his forehead. Darcena's mother was starving, but she picked up her baby and left to find shelter and food.

At the end of her strength and going mad with starvation, Darcena's mother became lost in the mountains. She despaired and lost a portion of her sanity, devoting everything to Darcena. When she was at her end with nothing left to give, she fell to her knees clutching Darcena close. At the last moment, her eyes going dark, she looked up and saw a brown doe standing but a few feet away, staring at her with intense eyes. The doe vanished into the snows and was replaced by a party from the Vaikalimara Clan who took in Darcena and her mother and brought them back to camp. Despite nursing Darcena's mother back to health, Darcena's mother still remained mentally broken. Darcena took after her father, a brute. As she grew older, Darcena brutally killed three of her playmates who had been teasing her, without hesitation, then calmly told her mother what she had done.

Darcena's mother was heartbroken to see so much of her father in her. The elders of the clan came to her mother with a solution. The clan members offered to wipe Darcena's memory in hopes that she wouldn't remember her father, creating a blank slate for her mother to imprint upon. Darcena's mother was against it but the clan was insistent. They took Darcena from her mother's arms and Darcena's mother lost more of her sanity. The clan wiped Darcena's memory and brought her back to her mother, but her mother was too far gone. She didn't even see Darcena and she turned away. Confused, Darcena herself ran and was never seen by the clan or her mother again. The clan told her mother that Darcena was safe and well.

Kheelin explained to Darcena that her mother was the soul of patience, loyal to Darcena's father to the extreme, and that she loved Darcena with everything she had. Kheelin challenged Darcena to open up and love others as much as her mother had loved her.

Out of the Wolf's Den (Spring 5094- Summer 5094)

Darcena was found by Thraes, a woodsman, in a wolf's den in the Dragon Spine near Icemule Trace in Spring of 5094. He went home and told his wife, Oxana, about his find. Oxana spent months trying to gain the trust of the wolf giant, finally convincing her to come out of the wolf's den and move into their home in the fall of the same year. Darcena was approximately ten years old. During the The Nazhor Chronicles in 5119, Darcena learned that it is most likely that she took on so many characteristics of the wolves because of a mind wipe that the Vaikalimara Clan imposed upon her not too far before that.

Around the Village (Winter 5094-Summer 5097)

Once in Oxana and Thraes' village, Darcena grew strong and so did they. They taught her to speak in Common and taught her many basic life skills. After a black out, Darcena discovered Oxana, Thraes, and their child Brone were dead. Believing she was responsible, she left the village and found her way to Wehnimer's Landing.

Suppressing the Beast (Fall 5097- Summer 5104)

After the slaughter of her adopted family, Darcena was lost and confused. Stumbling through the gates of the Landing, she decided she was tired of traveling and she wanted to make a home of it. Darcena wanted to be accepted in her new home, so she suppressed and hid as much of her inner beast as possible. Peeks slid out here and there, and some guessed at her true nature. Telling few of her story, she sought out meaning from a variety of places, seeking to understand her nightmarish visions of undead, trolls, and giants. She learned more about her supposed clan, the Grot'karesh, and their purpose in life. She developed friendships, was adopted into a large Landing-style family, married three times, and was solidly betrayed by two of her husbands. She participated in numerous wars, took sojourns to Icemule Trace, River's Rest, and Teras Isle for months on end, and briefly visited the Elven Nations before returning back home. Near the end of her time in the Landing, she began to take frequent trips into the Dragon Spine as she searched for her husband, Neq, who had disappeared. Eventually, she walked out the gates and did not return.

The Ishan (Summer 5104-Summer 5117)

Having her heart broken in Wehnimer's Landing and still not understanding her vivid daydreams and blood lust, Darcena set off to visit the city of her supposed parents, Kilanirij. While there, she learned to read and write Saramar with her Grot'karesh brethren. She grew to understand what she held inside, the curse within her blood, and she continued to keep its effects hidden from her peers for fear of being studied and taken by one of the Preceptors to the Asylum. While in Kilanirij, Darcena indulged in the culture and felt an instant connection with the other Grot'karesh; she developed a renewed sense of purpose in the quest to foil Despana's return. During the Festival of the Dead, she was offered to be a caretaker for the tomb of a family line that had no living members. This heartbreaking experience brought her to the point of wanting to seek out more information on her own family line. She returned to the Dragon Spine, which still felt like home to her, following leads on her heritage and staying vigilant for signs of Despana. Sending reports back to Kilanirij, she earned the title Ishan. Darcena traveled for awhile with the Araime, as well, apprenticing to a mentor of the Ikarrak. Eventually, her wanderings brought her back within reach of the Landing and she decided to stay with her friends for awhile longer.

The Butcher Emergent (Summer 5117 - 5119)

Darcena by Stormyrain.jpg
Darcena Wolf-Valslayer eating a black apple as seen by Stormyrain's player

Upon returning to the Landing, Darcena found that the curse seemed to flare around a specific group of adventurers, and she found it more and more difficult to combat its effects. In her failure to control herself, her inner nature was revealed more overtly than it ever had been before. She found acceptance from several of those adventurers and she shed the fear she had been living with, revealing herself as The Butcher. Only time would tell if she could bend the curse to save the world or if she would lose herself in its depths.

The Harbinger of Despana (5119 - present)

After being one of the first to attack Raznel during the night in 5119 when she died, Darcena continued to loyally and steadfastly stay by Madmountan's side as she had done since 5118. Early in 5120, two officially paired off and were seen together frequently, reportedly living together. Having reconciled her personal life, Darcena began to search for more pack members to add to her family. Her thoughts clearer and her mind more at ease, she also began sending reports back to Kilanirij, reporting on her discoveries regarding Despana. Darcena began to branch farther and farther afield, visiting Icemule Trace, Solhaven, River's Rest, Teras Isle, and Ta'Illistim frequently - still splitting most of her time between Wehnimer's Landing and Mist Harbor.