Tatyana
Someone once said that acting upon a society's morals was like nailing oneself to their own cross.
What a silly thing to do, she had thought.
Appearance
There were few things that a wayfarer cared less about than appearances, and why should they? Those without home or without a hearth or without even the faintest memories of how their mother must've looked were reviled wherever they went. Tatyana knew of the things they were called; knew how to armor her heart to it at a younger age than most, since those upon the path of the nomad were rarely permitted to forget what they were.
How could they forget when both kings and commoners alike scorned those vagrants which trickle into villages and towns, with little else but what could be carried upon their backs? All of this and more was simply a fact of life for the wayfarers she traveled with, for they long became accustomed to the looks and rumors.
Nobody in their right mind would have trusted these migrants with so little to lose, nobody would have lent faith to their promises, yet everybody always assigned quick blame upon these rootless people when calamity struck.
All of this made the choice to care so very little an easy one for Tatyana, allowing her to embrace a lifestyle of dressing with little more thought than what she was able to fit into. To the Rakkin band, this was enough. When they sailed in their patched and leaking sloop or slept underneath the stars in some meadow with no name, was there cause to sleep in silks and velvet?
She would not have been overly embarrassed with admitting that some of them dressed in... skin, and little else. There was no privacy as a wanderer; nowhere else but the deck of a sloop to deliver a crying child or to dance freely in the rain without thought of sin or propriety.
There was a... comforting simplicity to this life that removed all the common barriers of polite society.
Nakedness ill befits the occasional trip to city or market, however, something which she consented to with plain and torn shirts, belted trousers, and the occasional pair of shoes and sandals when fortune permitted. Any concession to style usually came in the form of necklaces of colored beads, pearls, and other such things easily scrounged from an ocean's bottom.
Distressingly fitting for a grubby urchin girl with a tangled bird's nest atop her head, otherwise colloquially known as hair.
How could they forget when both kings and commoners alike scorned those vagrants which trickle into villages and towns, with little else but what could be carried upon their backs? All of this and more was simply a fact of life for the wayfarers she traveled with, for they long became accustomed to the looks and rumors.
Nobody in their right mind would have trusted these migrants with so little to lose, nobody would have lent faith to their promises, yet everybody always assigned quick blame upon these rootless people when calamity struck.
All of this made the choice to care so very little an easy one for Tatyana, allowing her to embrace a lifestyle of dressing with little more thought than what she was able to fit into. To the Rakkin band, this was enough. When they sailed in their patched and leaking sloop or slept underneath the stars in some meadow with no name, was there cause to sleep in silks and velvet?
She would not have been overly embarrassed with admitting that some of them dressed in... skin, and little else. There was no privacy as a wanderer; nowhere else but the deck of a sloop to deliver a crying child or to dance freely in the rain without thought of sin or propriety.
There was a... comforting simplicity to this life that removed all the common barriers of polite society.
Nakedness ill befits the occasional trip to city or market, however, something which she consented to with plain and torn shirts, belted trousers, and the occasional pair of shoes and sandals when fortune permitted. Any concession to style usually came in the form of necklaces of colored beads, pearls, and other such things easily scrounged from an ocean's bottom.
Distressingly fitting for a grubby urchin girl with a tangled bird's nest atop her head, otherwise colloquially known as hair.
Skills and Abilities
***
Personality
Had you asked her if she would've willingly chosen this life, the reply would be a vehemently uppercased 'No.'
As for why she hadn't yet left these people she considered family? Those who raised her, demonstrated to her all the principles of a carefree life, permitted her to see what was beyond every horizon there was? It was an easy question with an equally easy answer.
Tatyana is a member of the Rakkins with all that a child's heart permits - no matter how stunted the rest of her personal growth or education may be, this was one thing that she was certain about in her mind. This freedom of certainty meant that she could subscribe wholeheartedly to the Rakkin way of life, their stories which were told in the dark of the night.
How they came to be, why a person would cast away all the fixtures and all those obligations of a settled life; how they ran away from these things until the sweat ran and, suddenly, they were alone in the world. What once was is no more and home was a stone toss in any direction.
All of this was a rather romanticized view she soon came to find, but the idea was still as solid as the ground beneath her feet. They traveled where they liked, sometimes alone, and sometimes settling in cities and towns for months or years at a time. Tatyana was no different than the others - which she went to great lengths to prove with the desperate, terrifying need to belong to something, no matter how little substance it had in reality.
This need to belong dropped her into a life not at all fit for a child, and surviving it meant employing her youth and agility as a pickpocket when she wasn't too busy begging. There are certainly few things one wouldn't do to eat; much like how a nomadic life tore down some barriers, starvation ripped the rest to shreds and then proceeded to stomp on them, a lot.
It all meant that, despite this romanticization of true freedom, she also learned the benefits of deception and the hollowness of words, sometimes even the benefits of shortsightedness that was equal parts fearlessness and foolishness.
As an adult it translated to the willingness to do just about anything for the sake of survival or promises of the next meal. Tatyana is a soul who has built a bulwark around herself in the company of just about anyone aside from family. Someone who was quick to deceive, quick to lose patience, quick to laugh at the absurdity of a great many things.
You could dig deep enough to discover a sense of loyalty as well, however convoluted it might be to obtain.
She could just as easily laugh with (at) you while robbing you blind.
As for why she hadn't yet left these people she considered family? Those who raised her, demonstrated to her all the principles of a carefree life, permitted her to see what was beyond every horizon there was? It was an easy question with an equally easy answer.
Tatyana is a member of the Rakkins with all that a child's heart permits - no matter how stunted the rest of her personal growth or education may be, this was one thing that she was certain about in her mind. This freedom of certainty meant that she could subscribe wholeheartedly to the Rakkin way of life, their stories which were told in the dark of the night.
How they came to be, why a person would cast away all the fixtures and all those obligations of a settled life; how they ran away from these things until the sweat ran and, suddenly, they were alone in the world. What once was is no more and home was a stone toss in any direction.
All of this was a rather romanticized view she soon came to find, but the idea was still as solid as the ground beneath her feet. They traveled where they liked, sometimes alone, and sometimes settling in cities and towns for months or years at a time. Tatyana was no different than the others - which she went to great lengths to prove with the desperate, terrifying need to belong to something, no matter how little substance it had in reality.
This need to belong dropped her into a life not at all fit for a child, and surviving it meant employing her youth and agility as a pickpocket when she wasn't too busy begging. There are certainly few things one wouldn't do to eat; much like how a nomadic life tore down some barriers, starvation ripped the rest to shreds and then proceeded to stomp on them, a lot.
It all meant that, despite this romanticization of true freedom, she also learned the benefits of deception and the hollowness of words, sometimes even the benefits of shortsightedness that was equal parts fearlessness and foolishness.
As an adult it translated to the willingness to do just about anything for the sake of survival or promises of the next meal. Tatyana is a soul who has built a bulwark around herself in the company of just about anyone aside from family. Someone who was quick to deceive, quick to lose patience, quick to laugh at the absurdity of a great many things.
You could dig deep enough to discover a sense of loyalty as well, however convoluted it might be to obtain.
She could just as easily laugh with (at) you while robbing you blind.