Name:
Duvessa / NightStalker / DreamStalker shena 
Tale`edras (Tayledras)

Age:
18

Physical Description:
Black as night itself is her
skin, from head to toe. Her hair, entirely black,
except for uneven lengths of star-snow white at the
tips, is held up in a tight bun by a strip of black
silk cloth. Her clothing is loose fitting, hiding the
body underneath. It is also made of black silk
material, both long sleeved shirt and pants.
Soft-soled black boots reach up almost to her knees,
laced with dyed-black soft, yet tough, rawhide. A
black sash is wrapped around her waist; the two ends
knotted together, trailing down to mid-calf. She has a
necklace around her neck, but it is hidden beneath the
collar and front of her shirt. Her eyes stand out
against her black figure, as they are a light sky
blue, like a cloudless day. She stands about 5'5-5'6,
and is slim beneath her loose clothing, but enough
muscle to prove she's not as weak as she may look at
times. She also looks like a young male, and has been
mistaken for one several times before.

Personality/ Attitude:
Since the death of her
'sister', she has become quiet and solitary. She will
though, talk, and even sing from time to time, but
rarely does she seem open or friendly to others.

Brief History:
She was born into a small scouting
group of HawkBrothers that were heading back to the
Pelagirs Forest. Her birth was a wonderment, as she
was as black as the night sky above them, from head to
toe. Still, her mother knew of how she came to be, and
convinced the others that she was not a bad omen, but
infact, a new step towards a better future. Eventually
the group made it back to their Vale, where Duvessa
was brought up. She was welcomed by all, but even as a
young child, she felt apart from them. She learned how
to be a HawkBrother scout, and showed that she had
great potential of becoming an Adept Mage when she
grew up. She grew up with another girl who was
visiting from a Shin'a'in, though only saw her every
winter, as her parents traveled to the Plains for the
summers. When she was 5 winters old, her mother died
from an assassination. It was during a trading trip to
a town in Jkatha named Fromish. The group with
Duvessa's mother returned to the Pelagirs as swiftly
as they could. Unfortunately, only Duvessa's mother was
a HawkBrother in the group, and the rest refused to
enter the Pelagirs Forest. They went to
Kata`shin`a`in, leaving Duvessa and the body of her
mother there with them. When winter turned to summer
again, a group heading into the Dhorisha Plains took
Duvessa with them. They had learned from her about the
friend she had in one of the Clans. They found the
girl, and the family (and Clan). Both parties decided
it was best to bring the body of the mother back to
the HawkBrother Vale she came from. Upon final
destination, a suggestion went up: Have the girl
adopted out to the Clan every other season. They asked
Duvessa what she thought of this, and she liked the
idea. So it was set. She spent the remaining winter
with the Vale, and returned to the plains with her new
'sister' for the next two seasons. During those
seasons, she learned everything her 'sister' learned,
and a little more. The Clan Shaman was told about her
mage potential, and taught her different languages,
writings, and other things a Shin'a'in Shaman-To-Be
would learn. Though she had a handle on sword
fighting, she picked up a different style of fighting,
one that was similar to the one that killed her
mother. She learned all the ways to handle knives,
from small stilettos, to knives as long as her
forearm. She still learned how to use a short-sword
and long-sword, and bow, but trained primarily on
knives, and darts, and hand to hand combat. With a
burning desire to revenge her mother's death, she and
her 'sister' became a team, each balancing out each
other with their different skills. The time came when
Duvessa had to return to the Vale for an indefinite
amount of time, to be trained in the ways of a Mage.
She already had a few outbursts of uncontrolled mage
powers, and all, even herself, thought it was best to
be trained to handle them. She spent two years in the
Vale, learning about the Nodes and Ley Lines, and what
her Mage abilities could do. Her 'sister' visited her
often, sometimes spending half a season, or a full
season, at the Vale. When both were about 15, they
went on a small scouting mission in the forest. Tori, 

Duvessa's 'sister', was to guard Duvessa, while
Duvessa was to search out any broken Ley Lines, and
change-creatures or circles. They were not far from
the HawkBrother encampment (they were with a larger
group currently working in that area) when they came
upon two white horses. They had both learned about
Companions and Heralds, but their thoughts instantly
went to Change-Creatures, as they had already
encountered a few in this area. Ready to attack or
defend themselves, they were startled when voices
entered their heads.

:Do not fear us: the voices said, the horses looking
at them with sapphire blue eyes. 

:We have been watching you....searching for 
you...waiting for you: 

Both girls were startled by this, Tori more then
Duvessa, for Duvessa was used to Mindspeech.
Carefully, they made their way across the mossy ground
towards the two creatures. Deeming them safe enough,
they put away their weapons, and Duvessa dropped the
mage shields she had placed around her and Tori. The
two horses seemed to almost smile (if horses could
smile) at them. 

:We Chose you, Duvessa and Tori, of Tale'edras and
Shin'a'in: the voices said, full of warmth and
happiness. 

:Forever shall we be together.: Neither girl has
forgotten that day.

A year had passed when the group was visiting with a
HawkBrother Clan, which was in the Pelagirs in
Valdemar. The girls were out near the edge of the
forest, when they were attacked by a group of people.
They weren't exactly bandits, for they fought too well
organized, but they also didn't look like a mercenary
group, or anything like such. A small group of
non-bonded ravens that were traveling with the group
(someone at the Vale thought it was best if they had
an eye on the two girls, and the corbies were more
then happy to leave the Vale for awhile) were told by
Duvessa to go back to the Vale and get help. With them
gone, they had a few less bodies to worry about,
besides their own and their Companions. 

The fight was uneven
and unfair from the start. Tori took down several,
thanks to the Shin'a'in training she had, but Duvessa
wasn't having as easy as a time. Something was
blocking her from casting any spells, and only the few
shields around her and Tori were the only magic they
had. Switching to her more sly skills, she took out a
few men with small stilettos and darts. The
Companions were doing damage as well, protecting their
riders as best as possible. But then, the worse
happened. A chance arrow suddenly protruded from the
back of one of Duvessa's shoulders, and she fell from
her Companion. The men tried to swarm her, but Tori
was there, fending them off. There was too many
though. Duvessa could not believe her eyes, as she saw
dozen small blades suddenly embed themselves into
Tori's back. They were smaller then the ones Duvessa
had used, and did not go deep, but she guessed they
were poisoned. Someone tried to gut Tori as she
started to stumble from the small blades, but her
Companion Jor'thas blocked it. The fighters suddenly
backed off, and the two girls and Companions were
dimly aware of the HawkBrothers coming into the small
clearing. But they had come to late. Duvessa held Tori
in her arms, tears down her face. Jor'thas layed
beside them, his own life draining away from the blow
he had taken for Tori. 

Tori died in Duvessa's arms that day, as did a part of
Duvessa.

As soon as she felt her dearest friend, her sister,
she let out a cry of anguish. Her Companion could feel
the building power, as did the few HawkBrothers that
had any Gifts at all. They tried to call to her, but
she was past hearing their pleas. Hugging Tori to her,
she let go of everything. A blinding light flashed
through the forest around her, before dying. The
clearing was burnt and destroyed. Trees had fallen
down, some burning still, others that had made it through
the release of power were bent and gnarled. Yet
amazingly, Duvessa lived, though her hair would
forever be as white as snow, and her eyes like a
cloudless sky in the day, and her powers locked away
deep inside her, perhaps never to revive again...

It was two months before Duvessa awoke from the deep
slumber she had entered when she had released
everything, destroying the small clearing that Tori
had died in. It was another two before she would leave
the Ekele she had been taken care of in. It was not in
the Vale of the Clan up in Valdemar, but down by the
Dhorisha Plains, in the Pelagirs Forest there. It was
her home Vale. Those in the Vale noticed a change in
her, and had heard about what transpired up in
Valdemar, and made careful not to mention it near her.
She herself had changed as well, besides her eye and
hair color. She was now quiet, and seemed distant most
of the time. She did everything that was asked of her,
and even started doing Scouting trips again. Her mage
powers though were not what they were before, and she
could at best locate Ley Lines and Nodes, and
sometimes do the odd mage shield, but never when she
was not within a certain distance of her Companion.
That had come to a surprise, that he was still with
her. She had thought he would reject her as a Chosen,
but he had simply told her that what she did was not
wrong, stupid, but not wrong, and that he had to stay,
to keep her from slipping away to the Star-Eyed's
lands. She slowly started coming out of her shell, but
she would never be the same as she was when Tori was
alive. It was now 3 years after being Chosen, and her
Companion thought it was best if they head to
Valdemar, and to the Collegium. She agreed. She was
given a simple necklace of a bondbird eagle talon,
mounted on a black stone that had funny blue swirls in
it. From the family of Tori's, they accepted her as
part of the Clan. Duvessa left, her name now
NightStalker (some called her DreamStalker, due to her
unnaturally colored eyes) and headed to Valdemar. She
keeps her Companion dyed the same midnight black as
her clothing, and dyes her hair the same black, except
for the very tips. She learned more tricks of the
Assassin and thief trade on her way to the Collegium.
She herself knows why the Death Bell tolled a year
ago, and no one, not even the Heralds, knew who had
died, or why, or where.

Goals in life:
To find out who killed her mother, and
Tori, and get her revenge. She also wishes to be
bonded by the small hawk like bird that travels with
her.

Gift:
Mindspeech, Next-To-Nothing Mage powers.

Position:
Herald (though
does not look like one at all, or act like one.)