[Itesa looks up at you from where she is sprawled on the great circular bed in the center of her den. Quickly she hides the comic she was reading under one of the blankets. The sharp observer would have seen the cover: Hidden Years #9.] "Don't humans know how to knock?" she asks irately. Her eyes unfocus for a moment as she recieves a Sending from someone far away. "Manga bids me to behave," she grumps at you. "So, what do you want to know? My grand life story I suppose," she snorts, then mutters "Why doesn't manga just put up a link to my character sheet instead of making me answer all these moronic questions?"
The OOC story of my birth goes thusly: manga and her friend Tamie (whom she met over the ElfQuest fanfic list) were plotting the children of Venka and Skywise. Tamie had mentioned to manga that there would be more than one cub, and manga assumed that there would be twins. Whether or not that was how Tamie planned it at first, Jarrah and Jarreth were born. Originally, Jarrah and Jarreth had their parents' coloring, but reversed. Jarreth had Venka's black hair and Skywise's blue eyes while Jarrah had Skywise's white hair and Venka's yellow eyes. However, Tamie had a hard time visualizing Jarrah like that, and in the end they kept it simple: Jarrah resembles Venka and Jarreth resembles Skywise. But manga liked the 'dandelion elf' and decided to keep her until she found a home for her.
Enter Miyaka, another of manga's Net friends met through the EQ fanfic list, and her new holt. Manga had regretfully turned down an invitation to join another holt because she did not then have a character available, but now she had me. All that she needed was to define precisely how I was related to Rayek. (She's only the tiniest bit obsessed with him... Have I mentioned that she's the Webmisstress for the Rayek Admiration Society for Humans?) Any version of me as Rayek's child implied that he had had another doomed relationship, and had missed another child's life, which manga did not want to do. Then she had the brilliant idea of making me his sister, and bang! everything was in place. All I needed was a name. Enter Tamie again, who was also now a member of the Shadow Tribe. Manga wanted a name like "Isa" (pronounced "Ee-sah") because it was the name of a baby that she had watched and she thought it was a beautiful name. (Hence my nick-name of "Isa".) Tamie eventually suggested "Itesa", and manga chose it. She has since decided that "Itesa" means "Sister Light", a desicion influenced by Jane Yolen's book Sister Light, Sister Dark.
On to my real life. I was born roughly 9,900 years after my brother left on his quest to save the High Ones. My rockshaping talent first manifested in the rocks I found. I could find a rock that looked like anything, which was my mother's first clue that I had talent. My father wished to have a child to work in the gardens with him, instead both of his children number among the strongest magic-users of this world. He never quite reconciled himself to his children's fates. You notice that I say "children". I have heard stories of my brother all of my life, and have always felt a connection with him no matter other people's opinions of him. Anyway, I grew up in Sorrow's End training my magic skills with Savah and Ahdri and teaching myself to hunt in the mountains. Hey, if my brother could do it, then so could I! I remained close to my mother. She had lost one child already, she did not want to give up on me too. So life continued for 250 years, with occasional interuptions from the Go-backs' attempts to steal the Little Palace.
When the Palace returned, and my brother re-gained his magic and came to Sorrow's End, I missed him because I was too deep in Rockshaping trance to hear Savah's call and too far out in the mountains to get back in time. The the humans came to attack our Village and there was no time to think of finding a way to visit my brother. The humans eventually over ran Sorrow's End and killed my father. The Sun Folk were forced into the caverns underground.
When the Shards War was won and the Palace restored, I'd hoped for the chance to finally meet Rayek, but it was not to be. He was left to wander this world burdened by the spirit of the Black Snake. The Sun Folk are journeying in the Palace now, but I chose to remain behind as long as my brother is here too. I have heard that he is now free of the Snake and living with his daughter and her family in the Wolfrider's holt. Someday soon I intend to visit him, Winterleaf, my new tribe mate and Rayek's granddaughter, will guide me.
As for my life in the Shadow tribe, why don't you just read these stories and let me get back to what I was doing? These are more or less in chronological order, however only "Winter" "No Contest" are ready at the moment. [Itesa pulls out her comic book and is engrossed again within moments.]
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The Winter of Her Discontent-- My first White-Cold. Have I mentioned how much I detest winter? "Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble"-- A merry little plot with Winterleaf. "The Burden of Leadership"-- Manga being silly. This is an OOC story of how I deal with being chief while Ebony and Windrunner are away. What it's really about is manga's reaction to A. Matthews leaving her in charge of the tribe for awhile. "Spring Surprises"-- The fateful meeting with my brother. No Contest-- A friendly little game with tribe mate Firebush. "Of One Birth"-- What if Rayek and I had been... twins? |
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