Nukpana
Appearance
Nu is as short and as scrawny as an eight year old child should be. She'd be a sweet and pretty looking child if it weren't for the grumpy scowls she often wears. She cares little about her appearance, she is tom-boyish in nature and torn clothes and dirt never seems to bother her. She has shoulder length brown hair and dark brown eyes that seem to darken with along with her rising temper. Her skin is pale, other than the red birthmark that resemble a tendril-like burn, which runs from the corner of her right eye and runs from there onto her shoulder and drapes like ivy down to her wrist. Nu is not bothered by cold weather, and has always run an exceedingly hot temperature. When angered (which is often), her cheeks flush red.
Skills and Abilities
Nu has abilities though has not yet developed them into a skill. She is so far only aware of the ability of controlling the movement of fire, though this often ends up out of control. She was fortunate enough to be taught to read, and it is one of the few things that calm her.
Personality
Nu does not currently have the ability to control her emotions and has no understanding of who or what she is, or why she feels rage. Her rage and lack of control is exhausting, and the use of her ability cost her both her physical and mental energy. She is a broody and untrusting child, not helped by the matter of her lack of a stable home or family. Truth being that she longs for acceptance and fears rejection therefore will intentionally seek to 'burn bridges' to remain in control. She has not settled in any home she has been taken into, she dislikes other children and loves animals, but sadly they don't seem to like her very much. Perhaps they sensed the danger in her. Nu has read many stories of dragons, saw pictures of them engulfed in flame, sleeping on coals and soaring through the stars, and it was her dream to meet one...maybe they would like her.
Biography & Lore
There had been no moon on the night Nu had been born, and in the following hours came one of the worst storms that had hit the tundra in many years. It lasted weeks, killing many of the village livestock and destroying homes and structures. When the storm had passed, a raid by a desperate neighbouring village followed, and several of their people perished.
The people of her home village were superstitious. She seemed nothing more than a normal, human baby with dark brown eyes and wisps of brown hair and no deformities. A red birthmark that resembled a tendril like burn ran from her right cheek to her wrist was her only visible imperfection. The child had always ran an extraordinarily high temperature, though the healers could not cure it, nor did she seem bothered by it and showed no other symptoms.
She was named Nukpana. A bad omen. An ‘evil spirit’. And it was prophesied that the child would burn cities and forests until nothing remained. A child of fire did not belong in the tundra - she had to die.
Torn from her wailing mother’s arms, her father bundled the crying child in furs and headed out into the blizzard, his hopeless heart sunken by the impossible task he must face. She stared up at him as he sat laid her down in the roots of a tree, snow quickly settling over the pelt he’d wrapped her up in. Several times, the man tried to walk away, and several more times he failed and grabbed the child up again and held her to him.. It’d been almost an hour and still the child’s temperature raged.
Her father walked for half a day to find the nearest town, and drank in a tavern with the babe settled on his knee, listening to those who came and went for hours before he heard a man mention that he’d be travelling home to Alliria in the morning. Her father desperately offered what coin he had left to offer, and the man agreed to take the child with him and find a suitable home for her, for he had no interest in raising a child, let alone one said to be an evil spirit. Her father thrust a coin purse and a letter into the man’s hand, and left the tavern swiftly, before he could change his mind.
The letter read simply ~
‘Thank you for caring for Nukpana.’
The man did as he had promised, and the child and her letter were taken in by a childless couple in Alliria. A year passed and the couple decided they’d rather remain childless than deal with another day of such a terrible child. She cried, screamed, fought and threw things. Those things were difficult enough, but they found that the touch of the child would burn them. She was left with on the doorstep of another couple with several young children, and they tried to do right by taking her in. They tried for a further two years to try and care for the child, to calm her, but it was to the detriment of their family and they couldn’t manage her either. Her new siblings hated her and feared her just as much. She was taken to several healers and witch doctors but there was nothing any of them could do to stop the the child’s apparent torment.
At three and-a-half, Nu burned her new family’s house to the ground after one of the children pushed her into the fire. Her clothes and hair had been singed, but otherwise, Nu had remained unhurt. The fire seemed to stick to her hands however, and the panicked child had the whole place in flames within minutes as she tried to put out the flames on whatever she could find. She was dragged, letter in hand, to the city orphanage, and things didn’t go much better there.
Five years later, Nu and her letter had been handed over to three families, two orphanages, the authorities, an Ogre and a school. She’d badly burned pretty much all of those who’d tried to discipline her, burned down two homes, a guard house and half of the school. She’d built up enough of a reputation in Alliria that nobody would have her, no matter how much coin they were offered. The reckless child appeared to be beyond teaching, and she was too much of a risk to the other children, and so the school turned her over to a sell sword, tasking him with taking the child far from Alliria and finding someone who could help the child, he was also given an extra payment to resist throttling or drowning her.
The sell sword opened the letter; “‘Thank you for caring for Nukpana’..Gods fucking help em’..” he smirked, pulling the eight year old by the scruff of her neck up onto his horse, and setting off out of Alliria.
The people of her home village were superstitious. She seemed nothing more than a normal, human baby with dark brown eyes and wisps of brown hair and no deformities. A red birthmark that resembled a tendril like burn ran from her right cheek to her wrist was her only visible imperfection. The child had always ran an extraordinarily high temperature, though the healers could not cure it, nor did she seem bothered by it and showed no other symptoms.
She was named Nukpana. A bad omen. An ‘evil spirit’. And it was prophesied that the child would burn cities and forests until nothing remained. A child of fire did not belong in the tundra - she had to die.
Torn from her wailing mother’s arms, her father bundled the crying child in furs and headed out into the blizzard, his hopeless heart sunken by the impossible task he must face. She stared up at him as he sat laid her down in the roots of a tree, snow quickly settling over the pelt he’d wrapped her up in. Several times, the man tried to walk away, and several more times he failed and grabbed the child up again and held her to him.. It’d been almost an hour and still the child’s temperature raged.
Her father walked for half a day to find the nearest town, and drank in a tavern with the babe settled on his knee, listening to those who came and went for hours before he heard a man mention that he’d be travelling home to Alliria in the morning. Her father desperately offered what coin he had left to offer, and the man agreed to take the child with him and find a suitable home for her, for he had no interest in raising a child, let alone one said to be an evil spirit. Her father thrust a coin purse and a letter into the man’s hand, and left the tavern swiftly, before he could change his mind.
The letter read simply ~
‘Thank you for caring for Nukpana.’
The man did as he had promised, and the child and her letter were taken in by a childless couple in Alliria. A year passed and the couple decided they’d rather remain childless than deal with another day of such a terrible child. She cried, screamed, fought and threw things. Those things were difficult enough, but they found that the touch of the child would burn them. She was left with on the doorstep of another couple with several young children, and they tried to do right by taking her in. They tried for a further two years to try and care for the child, to calm her, but it was to the detriment of their family and they couldn’t manage her either. Her new siblings hated her and feared her just as much. She was taken to several healers and witch doctors but there was nothing any of them could do to stop the the child’s apparent torment.
At three and-a-half, Nu burned her new family’s house to the ground after one of the children pushed her into the fire. Her clothes and hair had been singed, but otherwise, Nu had remained unhurt. The fire seemed to stick to her hands however, and the panicked child had the whole place in flames within minutes as she tried to put out the flames on whatever she could find. She was dragged, letter in hand, to the city orphanage, and things didn’t go much better there.
Five years later, Nu and her letter had been handed over to three families, two orphanages, the authorities, an Ogre and a school. She’d badly burned pretty much all of those who’d tried to discipline her, burned down two homes, a guard house and half of the school. She’d built up enough of a reputation in Alliria that nobody would have her, no matter how much coin they were offered. The reckless child appeared to be beyond teaching, and she was too much of a risk to the other children, and so the school turned her over to a sell sword, tasking him with taking the child far from Alliria and finding someone who could help the child, he was also given an extra payment to resist throttling or drowning her.
The sell sword opened the letter; “‘Thank you for caring for Nukpana’..Gods fucking help em’..” he smirked, pulling the eight year old by the scruff of her neck up onto his horse, and setting off out of Alliria.