Naida of the Nar

[djspectre]

wanted to also add that her arrival to save Halas and Shae in the tunnels filled with undead by the graveyard couldn't h ave been more timely that was when I knew I'd have a great time playing along side her and I did the whole time since.

A shame she's gone, but at least she got an ending she deserved.

[Ranek]

Awesome character, nice interactions with Ranek. Surprising stats, it's like, after seeing them, things start making sense, awesome stats rping and concept. Also, doubt I'll ever see another 13 str barbarian, very bold. Well, here goes some screenies of her I happen to have.


http://img689.imageshack.us/i/raneknaida1.jpg/
http://img215.imageshack.us/i/raneknaida2.jpg/
http://img522.imageshack.us/i/riftinhellwithnaida1.jpg/
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/7568/riftinhellwithnaida3.jpg
http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/5018/riftinhellwithnaida4.jpg
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/3759/riftinhellwithnaida5.jpg

Eager to see what comes next.

Cheers!

[OrchardOfMines]

I enjoyed the few times I spoke with Naida in game.  I did not know she was Garagosian, it makes that last conversation where I was speaking down about the Garagosians from the docks much more amusing.

[Capricious]

Actually, she wasn't Garagosian. She lost her soul in the Targan Bloodgames when she was new to Ymph, so when she died she went to Warrior's Rest and fought for Garagos. Actually, there's a lot of lore I wrote up in her personal character notes that will explain quite a bit about her, her tribe and her beliefs. Might as well post it now that she's dead...

The Nars
   
 Descended from the survivors of Narfell’s cataclysmic destruction, the Nars consist of twenty or more nomadic tribes that inhabit the dry grasslands east of the Giantspire Mountains and north of the Rawlinswood, and also the region known as The Ride, an open steppe which lies between the Dragonspine Mountains, the Border Forest and the Gray Land of Thar.
   
Nars are short and stocky, with darkly tanned skin tones and straight, raven black hair, usually worn to the shoulders. They are some of the finest horsemen in Faerun, and famed breeders of the legendary Nar heavy horse.
   
Although they once spoke Narfelli, a forgotten tongue strongly influenced by Abyssal, the Nars now speak the Damaran tongue common to lands near the Easting Reach and the Moonsea, as well as a smattering of Common. As most Nars can be considered barbarians, few can read or write, but those that do employ the Dethek runes adopted by speakers of Damaran.
   
   
  Niered Naten
   
The people of this particular tribe call themselves the Niered Naten (the night people), and they believe that the fate of each of them can be told by within the night sky. As such they worship aspects of Selune chiefly, who they call Qielli Naten. Each bears a tattoo prominently upon their face which is given to them after they have successfully passed their coming of age trial, which they call their fatin yll.
   
For the fatin yll each youngster must enter into the grasslands alone on some task, given them by the elders of the Niered Naten. The task varies from Nar to Nar, and if they return after several days and nights (as all fatin yll take at least this long) the Nar fulfills the final ceremony by drinking a strong beverage called qumes. It consists of mare’s milk and a mixture of herbs, which the elders keep secret. Upon speaking with the elders about what the young Nar had experienced during their fatin yll, and the visions they see after drinking the qumes. From this the constellation is chosen that will foretell the young Niered Naten’s fate. Once their face is tattooed to mark this fate they are considered adults, and full members of the tribe.
   
The Niered Naten, like most of the Nars tribes, are very protective of their territory, and they meet intruders with violence. However once welcomed amongst their number, as those who come to peacefully trade with them often are, they can be rather surprisingly friendly. But the visitor must keep in mind that they are guests, and be respectful of the Niered Naten’s customs, or they will find that these Nar will turn on them with surprising swiftness. For this reason the Niered Naten are seen by outsiders as extremely fickle, and best approached with caution.
   
They war often, and for such times their reverence of Qielli Naten becomes secondary to the appeasement of Throndrund (Talos). Throndrund is feared and respected, but not loved for the storms he brings. But the Niered Naten feel that it pleases the Stormlord to see them at war, as they are like storm themselves as they sweep into battle, Throndrund’s thunder sounding beneath their hooves. In this way they believe they escape much of his wrath on the northern plains where they live.
   
   
  Death
   
The Niered Naten believe that when one of their numbers dies in peacetime they return to the earth to become part of the land. However a warrior who dies in battle returns as one of their vaunted Nars heavy horses. Their greatest warriors sit beside Qiella Natan in the night sky as constellations. These heroes are remembered with great honor and acclaim in their tales, which are passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth as the tribe keeps no written histories.
   
The Niered Naten bury those who died in peace, but they burn those killed in battle on great pyres, always at night. It is very important to them that the bodies of their warriors be recovered, if not their spirit cannot be released to return to roam their grasslands.


Language
   
 The Niered Natan, like most other Nars, speak primarily Damaran, although most know at least some Common. Only a few amongst their plete (elders) are able to read and write, and when they do they use Dethek runes. Near all of their stories, knowledge and lore is handed down orally from generation to generation. Most Nars simply have no need, nor appreciation, of why anyone would need to write things down.
   
However their ancestors had spoken Narfelli, a language heavily influenced by Abyssal, and some of their more ancient words and names are still from this dead language.
   
   
  Magic
   
The Niered Natan do not fear magic like so many barbarians across the Realms do. They see those with the ability to cast any sort of spells as being blessed by Qielli Natan, who they think (mistakenly) controls all magicks.
   
They also have a strong reliance on their seers, whom they call shikues. These shikues claim to not only look to the stars to divine the future of the tribe, they are also the ones responsible for deciding what constellation each member of the tribe is tied to at the end of their fatin yll (see above).
   
No two living Niered Natan bear the same tattoo on their face, but once one dies that constellation may then guide another Nar. In addition, the Nar who bears those stars is also guided by the spirits of any dead Nar who had worn the tattoo before them. However most Nars do not know the names of their progenitors, they simply believe and trust in them. To the Nar this is also a form of magic, and they rely on their shikues to continue these lines. If all shikues of the tribe were slain they fear they would lose their connection to their ancestors’ spirits, so these seers are very well protected, and never enter combat unless it is for their lives.
   
   
  Naida’s Tattoo
   
  The tattoo Naida bears on her face is called the Syte e Tyorl, (Eyes of Tyorl). It is known by most in the realms as the Double Daggers. Located in the western sky, this constellation is two fuzzy clusters of blue-white stars, which appear as two side-by-side crescents or arcs in the sky, points downward. True west can be found exactly halfway between the two arcs - heading "straight between the eyes.
   
  In the Sword Coast North, the Daggers are known as The Eyes of the Watching Woman, and in the western Heartlands men speak of "where Selune looks back." To the Bedine of Anauroch, the Daggers are known as The Two Jambiyas, or the Eyes of Elah. Similarly, the elves know this constellation as The Eyes of Uelaereene (named after the long-ago Queen Uelaereene of Evermeet), and the halflings of Luiren connect the two arcs and call it The Gull.
   
The exact meaning of this constellation to Naida is rather vague. The shikue who chose and drew the tattoo had told her that she is now tied to the lands west of The Ride. Beyond this she must discover how the Eyes of Tyorl influence her fate on her own.

[Velve]

That's the sort of stuff you're supposed to write in the personal character notes? A huge amount of backstory.. Where do you find that sort of information?

[Letsplayforfun]

A cool way to end a pc. Well done Daz.

[Capricious]

That's the sort of stuff you're supposed to write in the personal character notes? A huge amount of backstory.. Where do you find that sort of information?

I don't know if that's what's expected, but I wrote this up and posted it for a couple reasons. This way any interested DM would understand Naida's RP better, and also I'd have an easy reference for it myself.

The other information I have in my personal character notes are her accomplishments and goals, which I probably should have updated more often, honestly.

As far as where I found it....some of it is from sourcebooks on the Nar and the like, the constellation is from Candlekeep. The rest, on Naida's tribe, what they call the gods (those are two of the common deities amongst the Nar tribes), the rituals, etc., I made that portion up myself. But for me that kind of detail provides a sort of touchstone for me to refer back to.