Azura was born into the isolated and remote village of the Akaari, an ancient and rumored to be mythological and strictly matriarchal tribe whose community was nestled deep within a lush and forested valley, surrounded by steep and impassable mountains. Descendant from the Goddess of Water, Healing and Hydromancy (Melusina), her celestial bloodline were blessed with natural born gifts of magic. Not only were they able to manifest and control the element of water, they also used it for divination purposes and possessed the ability to heal themselves, and others. Purposely kept hidden from the outside world for centuries, the Akaari acted as guardians of the mountain, protectors of the sacred springs and lagoons that held the power to cure any affliction, even able to reverse death. Their oath was to keep the divinity of their souls and the secrets they harbored safe from the destruction of men, who their culture preached strongly against, especially the concept of love.

Azura was born the eldest of five daughters, next in line to take over as High Priestess after her mother, Seraphina. However, from the moment she came hurtling into the world amongst a bed of vines and wild flowers, Azura was marked as different, even among her own people. Traditionally, all those born within the ancestral bloodline of the Goddess possesses striking straight pale hair and blue eyes, but after laboring for many hours, Azura was born under the light of a full moon with wide green eyes and a dark patch of hair. As she grew, she turned into an inquisitive but rebellious child whose curiosity and reluctance to follow rules blindly often so her harshly punished. Unlike those before her, Azura was the first to question the restrictions placed upon her, the first to desire that what was forbidden and much of her childhood was spent fleeing the elders from her village, evading long hours spent on cold temple floors to chant mindlessly in prayer in favor of climbing the mountain ranges and diving from clifftops to watery pools below. Even stranger was the fact that as she aged, her dark hair grew in tangled coils that were slashed with white and silver, the two toned mane next to impossible to tame. Odder still was the birth of her four sisters, who in comparison, all contained flowing manes of blonde, marking her as the literal black sheep of the family. However she was still the eldest, and expected to lead one day, a thought that filled her with dread for the young girl craved knowledge and adventure outside the boundaries of the only home she had ever known

Akaari Culture

Akaari belief is that water is the life force that connects all living things- the sister of death, the two so closely connected that they cannot be separated. Whilst a peaceful tribe that had a natural aversion to violence, there were many dark and secretive aspects to their way of life that could be deemed as savage and uncivilized. Akaari culture revolves heavily around keeping the land of the Goddess free from the corruption and sin of outside forces, especially men, that might seek to manipulate or destroy her divinity. Love was expressively forbidden and preached against. The only time the women left their isolated mountain was for the purpose of procreation, an act that was viewed as an unpleasant but necessary chore, designed for the sole purpose of continuing their way of life and from which no relationships or emotion was allowed to spring, using the men on the other side of those jagged peaks and vanishing like a mirage before morning. Men were considered vessels and nothing more, a father’s role non existent and unimportant. Whilst there is no such thing as a male Akaari and most children were female, sons were produced from time to time however such a thing was a rare occurrence. Traditionally, these infants were drowned at birth but the custom was changed by Azura’s early defiance of the rule which came about after she intervened on the drowning of her infant brother when she herself was still but a child. Since that time, male children were allowed to live among the tribe until they reached a certain age upon where they were marked (two tattooed waved lines on the wrist) before being abandoned to the river, guided to new homes by the grace and mercy of Melusina. Those deemed worthy, were guided back to the homeland in old age to await death as a final act of kindness, reunited with the soil of their birth. As such, Azura’s experience with men before Hellifyno was limited to young children and the elderly.
(More to come)

The Slaughter
Many people searched for the existence of the legendary tribe yet Azura’s world appeared on no map. Its location was shrouded in secrecy for good reason, the rough terrain of her mountainous home making it difficult to traverse for even the bravest soul yet to the pale savage, those slopes were easy to scale. For hundreds of years, the Akaari lived with limited to no contact from the outside world, a peaceful existence without violence or the corruption of mankind. That was until the day Azura turned sixteen. On that day, she had risen early before the sun even had a chance to do so, roaming alone alongside the mountain ranges as she contemplated the rites of passage she was to undergo that day. As she began the long walk back to the village, the sky was a dark blue threaded with pink, the start of a new day. But by the time she neared the border, those streaks of pink were burning to red, and although she could not see beyond the rise of stone and rock, her senses were quickly invaded by the thick scent of smoke and blood, her ears filling with screams of agony and fear as she descended into the clearing.

They had been discovered, attacked while the sun still slept. Her vision bathed in an eerie glow of orange and red, Azura struggled to adjust her mossy green gaze to the carnage, the horror and violence erupting before her. Two of her sisters, Masika and Lyra , aged six and eight, lay dead at her feet, mutilated and staring with lifeless eyes, a river of blood drenching her bare feet. They must have tried to flee into the forest for their faces were turned towards the trees, silently pleading. Her people were being slaughtered, such savagery beyond comparison, a frenzied unorganized lust for blood in the attempt to discover those legendary secrets. She saw it all. Homes and temples burning before her eyes, panicked occupants forced inside to be burned alive, those who resisted beaten without mercy. Women and children ran for their lives, but they were pursued, and clubbed to death, raped, tortured right beside their fallen kin. Mothers screamed as infants were ripped from their arms and thrown carelessly into the dirt, or else their small heads dashed against stone.

As news of the slaughter spread, many continued to deny the existence of such a community, dismissing the stories. Captured and tortured for information, Azura became the last of her kind and though she was eventually able to flee, she was forced to accept that she would spend the remainder of her life avoiding the constant threat of those that hunted her, intent on uncovering the secret of her blood and the mountain. Was this divine punishment for her desire to break free and glimpse the outside world? In her mind, she wondered…

Since venturing outside her home, Azura has been confronted with all manner of threats, her naivety and tendency to loose control of her emotion and magic often making her a target. Though, the largest hurdle she currently faces is coming to terms with evidence that her people’s beliefs on love, the outside world and the nature of men in general was skewed in perception for she has met many individuals that have thrown her culture into doubt. Despite this inner conflict, Azura still finds it difficult to trust those of the male persuasion and strangers in general with the exception of a few.

https://www.luisroyo.com/en/
https://www.rolepages.com/characters/azura/