Verna

A refugee from the nation of Razmiran, a religious nation basically run by a cult of man who claims to be a living god. That's all Linette is, and all she thought she'd ever be - nothing more than a peasant, one of the bottom rung whose lives were deemed only useful for toiling for the wealthy. Aka: the Razmiran priesthood, and those that backed them.

Originally, Razmiran was nothing more than a little dutchy within a region called the River Kingdoms, a land of bandits, hermits, and misfits who disliked the rules and shackles imposed on them by their neighboring lands, essentially creating a chaotic mess of start-up kingdoms fighting for the right to exist - often springing to life and ceasing to be all within the span of a year, put down by other rival kingdoms seeking to exist in the same spot just as soon as they had named their intentions.

The church of Razmir was nothing more than another of those rival groups, a fringe religion which had sprung up on the outskirts of a dutchy about 50 years prior, and had quickly taken to ruling with an iron fist. The youngest and fastest growing nation in the region, but at it's own cost. The 'church of Razmir' is nothing more than a cult, of the worst kind, and it isn't afraid to push it's weight around - or it's people - to get what it wants. Through thorough warmongering, it has since well established itself in the region, ensuring that it's presence wouldn't easily be overthrown anytime soon.

With their lives ruled by the word of the cloth under the tenants of law, luxury, and obedience, the common folk are under constant surveillance by anonymous mask-wearing priests - watching for any act of insubordination, and any chance of opportunity to push their weight around. Every coin they earn and every move they make observed by the wealthy priesthood and those that support it, taken and controlled so tightly that those who live in luxury practically own the lives of the poor in all but legality.

Of course, the common folk don't take this lying down - some have indeed fought back. To very little success, thus far. The grip of the priests is strong, and the nails which stick out are often stripped out. It's not uncommon for faces to go missing, often never seen again. People never disappear due to brushes with the law, criminals send off to the mines. Those accused of heresy instead saved for a festival reserved for mass execution. They can't prove it's the priests behind the disappearances. But common sense reveals the truth. Sometimes, its by the beasts which plague the rest of the River Kingdoms, which the priests obviously do little about. But otherwise, there's no doubt that the priesthood has taken them with intent to correct these 'false notions' that have settled in their heads. Give them a 'corrective education', or 'proper indoctrination' into the faith.

Those whose faces are seen again are often... not quite who they once were. The scars aren't always physical, though some bear the signs of burns and physical torment - but unanimously, all who disappear only to come back, their minds and souls almost seem as if they had been twisted into a facsimile of what they had been before. Coming back as supporters, if not outright new priests, praising Razmir's name.

Those who hold doubts of Razmir's divinity have long since learned to hold their tongue, and keep their thoughts elsewhere - if they don't, the walls in which they live may decide to bless them with a visit by the local priests. 

This is the life that Linette was born into.
And the life she strived to escape.

One of a twin pair, she and her sister Verna have never known their parents. Children of faces who had disappeared, tossed between distant relatives and escaping orphanages, they've essentially slipped through the cracks. Living on the streets, they did their best to keep their heads down and survive the hard life of the Razmiran peasantry. But they simply couldn't continue to live safely once their Aasimar features started showing - there are no other gods allowed to be worshipped within the boundaries of Razmir, and the living god had never announced claim of descendants. The feathers marking their divine heritage would bring them nothing but ill fortune should they remain.

Thankfully, not all of the peasantry are in the cult's pocket. The resistance actively fighting against the living god's tyranny were well known to smuggle those who wished to escape the nation, skilled at escaping the clutches of the priesthood trying to catch them. These fighters were just as quick to notice the feathered pair, as they were to try and hide their heritage. It wasn't long for them to acting accordingly to ensure the priests couldn't get their claws on them.

A stroke of luck for the twins, honestly. If the resistance hadn't intervened, it would have only been a matter of time the pair of godling's fate would have been snatched up and left to the whim of the Razmiran priesthood.

The kingdom of Razmiran is bordered by a giant lake, and three other countries - but there would be few options for them to be smuggled too. Razmir had control of the lakes, getting them beyond it's borders would be a fool's errand. The isolationist neighboring Kingdom of Kyonin would let them pass through their borders as per their agreement with the resistance, but wouldn't allow them to stay as they weren't elves. And the horror-plagued country of Ustalav... well, getting through the mountains and into their haunted mists with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and a couple guides could prove a fate worse than death. Their only chance of survival would be in the rest of the surrounding River Kingdoms, as chaotic and life-threatening as they may be.

A gamble which paid off.

Though she'd initially gotten separated from her twin in a moment of peril, they'd been reunited. And though they'd had to flee the encroach of Razmiran's ever expanding priesthood, Linette and her sister had managed to come into the company of trusted friends. Her mindset has a long way to go before it'd be able to fully throw off the shackles which Razmiran's lifestyle had conditioned her into, but she's come a long way in freeing herself from them.

Winding up as the accidental defacto leader of a city turned growing nation, in a section of the River Kingdoms of repute deemed the Stolen Lands? Whether that's a boon or a bane has yet to remain. She's almost regretting offering to help build the settlement - originally under the impression that it was just to get the town upon it's feet while it's benefactors set things up properly. After all, why shouldn't she want to help her newfound friends? They'd help her find her missing sister, after all. But now that it's become a proper nation and she's unable to step down due to lack of a more capable leader. She's simply too good at what her job is, despite her not wanting the position in the first place.

But is putting a refugee who has yet to fully escape her fears and conditioning of the cult she escaped from really a good idea? She has no ruling experience, and the life of a Razmirani peasant is essentially slavery. The priests were very keen on making sure they were mentally conditioned to stay that way. But now her aasimar features already have the populace looking at her in awe - she's scared. The last thing she wants to do is become another living god...

Personality (Linette)