| Waves of purest gold fell over ivory shoulders, fine and delicate. Crystalline blue eyes, sparkling bright, peered out at the world from a lovely face. Lips, those velvet lips, with their pale rosy hue, were perpetually turned up in a charmingly timid smile. Timid was one thing the girl was not though, and she had always known well the perfection of her features. The gentle sway of her movements was just enough to peak interest, no more and no less. A voluptuous beauty of only 16 summers. The young men may have called her a tease, but they always came back to see her again. Her only flaw, it seemed, was her vanity. She believed even the angels would be put to shame by her loveliness, as pampered and spoiled as she had been raised to be. The only daughter of a wealthy merchant, Alysia should never have wanted for anything in her life. Yet from a very young age she developed a fascination with the world around her, and an undeniable desire for adventure. She would sneak out some nights, and visit a system of tunnels and caves nearby. It was rumored there was treasure here, and while she had no need for such thing, the search held its own value. Accompanying the rumors of treasure were of course, rumors of those beasts who guarded it as their own. Yet Alysia ventured into the caves without fear, and for the most part she would return empty handed. Then one night changed everything. In the morning Alysia had not returned, and after hours of searching she was found at the entrance to the cave, a trail of her blood leading back inside. Alysia was very near to death when they found her, her body mangled and broken. But the clerics labored to save her, and they succeeded in saving her body, if not her spirit. Alysia would never be as she was. She could never be perfect again. And so she fled, seeking refuge in the end with the House of Aetharyn. She was accepted into the Second House with hopes of becoming a cleric. She seldoms talks anymore, and the sparkle has all but died in those still-lovely sapphire eyes. No one is sure just what happened that night in the cave. Some say part of the ceiling collapsed, and that she managed to drag herself to the entrance before collapsing from sheer exhaustion. Others say that there are in fact monsters in the caves, and that the tortures she must have suffered are beyond imagining. The broken body has done its best to mend itself, but scars remain hidden beneath the simple gowns she prefers. And the pain may never leave those eyes. Even if she could regain the perfect beauty she once posessed, Alysia may always be broken. Nothing is without hope. Some believe that love can heal all wounds. And her smile is brighter and more frequent when she is with Tauryn. But so lost in his own fears and misery is he, that it seems inlikely the man can ever realise her affection for him is there. |
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