Asha

A wanderer by circumstance, Asha attempts to guard herself from all difficulties in the world. Determined on masking her insecurities and giving off an illusory air of confidence, she emulates the persona of a 'lone wolf,' braving life, adventure, and the world on her own. Witty and clever in her own right, her inexperience in handling situations that require thinking on her feet diminishes both her potential in surviving on her own and her confidence in herself as a self-proclaimed adult and wanderer. However, this does not detract from her ability to be superbly aware of her surroundings and possess good judgment when dealing with people.

Appreciative of humor, she is drawn to those who a) have a sense of humor and b) are able to make her laugh. Despite her nagging cynicism, she truly does look on the brighter side of life, refusing to falter into severe pessimism and depression she was surrounded with as a child. While genuinely caring, her independence doesn't quite allow her the same level of empathy as other people, thus she tends to be a bit abrasive or harsh with people, despite never meaning to be. Above all, Asha would value companionship, or friendship, but only with those that would uplift her spirits--otherwise, they aren't worth it.

She has an uncanny ability with plants, and because of this possesses quite the green thumb. As such, she loves to garden. Her skills as an artist are also excellent--she was able to write in calligraphy at a young age and had a natural knack for drawing and painting. Other than that, she's always had a thing for sticky fingers, often plucking little 'spoils of war' from people during her childhood.

Asha has always had an affinity for flowers, plants--anything. Growing up in Balbadd, she appreciated the simple pleasures they gave her just observing how they grew, expanded, and seemed to exist anywhere despite the conditions.

A lover of looking at her best at any possible moment, she is wholly entranced by a beautiful dress or outfit that she can wear. She thinks of it as a sign of wealth.

Even if it prevents her from going insane while on her own, she has always kept a journal that she records her life in. It's also a way for her to doodle around with calligraphy and fancy writing--you never know when it'll help.

Similar to her love of writing (and a way to keep her busy), she draws in her journal from time to time whatever captures her attention, whether it be a landscape, or people she sees while she sits in towns or cities.

Wasteful and irresponsible, Asha came to hate the effects of drinking and all the severe repercussions that come with an addiction to it.

Never a fan of people who prey on the weak, and perhaps a bit biased about that, she loathes bullies with the burning heat of a thousand suns.

Something she's disliked since a young age, she hates things that are, in her words, "disturbingly small." This includes small pieces of paper, small feet, small fingers, small hands, small eyes--anything with small features that aren't naturally small. There's no rhyme or reason for it at all, it just irks her.

Having grown up living comfortably, and then losing it all due to a series of unfortunate circumstances, her biggest aspiration in life is to live a life on her own devoid of destructive vices like greed or gluttony. She isn't quite sure of what that goal entails exactly, and she doesn't quite picture herself settling down in general. Currently, she has her sights set on making something of herself, although she isn't quite sure of what exactly that means, all she knows is that she would like to put any one of her natural talents to work and become a person worthy of renown.

Hiding her fears for the future well, Asha is deathly terrified of becoming lost or being alone forever. While she's left her family, the only friends and people she's ever come to know, she cannot return home until she becomes back a famous whatever considering she gave her family a very dramatic goodbye speech. Deep down, Asha is extremely lonely, and the struggle of wandering alone is weighing on her greatly. She craves for companionship, or for anyone to extend their hand and offer her help, or even five minutes of their time to talk. Above all, she cannot brave the trials of living life alone, and while she remains strong currently, there is no way that she will be able to make it alone.

Asha has shoulder length blonde hair that she usually ties up into a lazy pony tail using her trusty white ribbon (although she doesn't tie it into a full bow), with a few loose hairs poking out of her pony tail that fall gently on her face. Her face is quite smooth, with lightly tanned skin and piercing ice-blue eyes. Matching the color of her ribbon, she wears a breezy scarf loosely around her neck that extends down to her legs, mostly out of fashion and partly out of sentiment. On her body she wears a sleeveless, red tunic that tightly fits around her body until her waist, where it fits more like something like a kimono as the pieces of fabric flow in the wind. Topping it off, she wears black leggings and black fabric around her hands, with holes cut off for her fingers to poke through. She wears a tan belt around the kimono at the stomach to keep the tunic tight, and dons tan high-boots tied around.

Asha behaves as if she exudes an impressive air of confidence, but it fools nobody as bits of shyness and meek body language ooze out of her very well-being. Her non-verbal communication is much like her verbal communication--guarded, and she does well to attempt to maintain that facade. Ever still, she tends to present herself as submissive, off-balance, and with normal feminine wiles--a demeanor she picked up from her mother, yet with very little ability to use the helpless 'damsel in distress' persona to her favor.

Born to the most popular bar owner and his beautiful dancer wife in Balbadd, Asha enjoyed a comfortable and eventful childhood watching and observing a night life she probably should have not been exposed to. Nevertheless, not a single patron dared lay a hand on the Samara family's cherished daughter, and in return she entertained the intoxicated and lively bar-folk with her innocent questions about the world beyond Balbadd, what "whiskey" was, why grown men would throw up from drinking said "whiskey," and any questions in between about mundane life. When Asha wasn't bothering the drunk customers (or taking their belongs from their bags as she wandered around the bar) of her parents' bar, she was always picking flowers and decorating her room, her house, and the bar with various assortments of plants and the like to 'liven up' the atmosphere. The bar seemed to burst with life with each new floral arrangement Asha added to the bar, with Mariam watching on with a smile as despite the conditions and the lack of soil, the flowers never wilted or died. Asha's mother, Mariam, always watched over her, either while she was performing on stage or waiting on her favorite bar patrons, serving them food and drinks her husband concocted around to the customers. Mariam was always there to supplement Asha's education she received from her father, learning about various aspects of life, and the more 'mysterious' aspects of the world, such as magicians and something her mother called 'the rukh.' It was Mariam who asserted that her daughter had the gift of magic, and said her propensity to be drawn to plants and the earth was not some personality quirk, but her body drawing her to abilities as someone who could command the rukh. Asha enjoyed a very eventful and cheerful life in Balbadd, unaware of the horrible conditions in the city. Over time, the people stopped coming, and the bar grew less and less crowded, leaving Mariam to seek other work around Balbadd in order to keep the bar, and their home, up and running in case business picked up again.

Years passed, and Asha grew was entering her tween years, receiving tutelage from her father in basic aspects of academia while her mother worked long hours, and barely saw her apart from the split seconds her mother would come home to rest for a minute before taking off to the next job. Her father would always seem more distressed each time Mariam returned, feeling more and more dejected as he too saw his wife less and less. More years passed as the Samara family struggled to make ends meet, eventually losing the bar and being forced to move into one of the more poorer sections of the city. Despite the harsh move, Asha was happy to see her mother again, and for a while, despite living in squalor, they lived happily. However, despite the good times, Asha failed to see the destruction of family occur, with her mother spending more time away from home, and her father often going out at night and not returning until the wee hours of the morning. Before Mirah Al-Jabiri deposed her grandfather, Asha saw her mother flee from their lives, and leave Balbadd, behind. Regardless of the city moving in a more prosperous direction, Asha was abandoned by her mother, and unable to lean on her father for support as he spent whatever money he made drinking his sorrows away.

By the time Asha was fifteen, Asha had to support herself almost entirely, facing the wrath of girls her age teasing her about her ragged appearance, her bad home life, and how pathetic her father looked. Because of this, Asha retreated within herself, and was alone for the majority of her teenage years in Balbadd, often enjoying the company of her journal, and the flowers she would spent time with in the gardens in the old palace. The years passed as she grew resentful of her father's behavior, and unable to cope with the pain of living in such misery, planned her big escape from the lonely life she led. Over the course of two weeks, Asha carefully planned her escape from the city. Every night, she crept into the homes of the evil harpies that taunted her for years, and stole their clothes, fashioning together an outfit she could look presentable with and keeping them in her special hiding place where nobody could find them. She gathered food, some huang, and a suitable outfit--everything she needed--before she one day in the night she decided to flee and leave the city forever. As she walked out the door, her father stopped her, nearly physically restraining her and hurting her to keep her in Balbadd. Tearful, Asha argued with her father about the need to leave and how miserable it was. In the events of their fight, she struck a nerve and her father passively backed away, distraught from the fight. Still unable to see her father this way, Asha ran out of the door and out of Balbadd, heading in whatever direction to her seemed appropriate as she left her past behind. Along the way, she heard wind of a magic academy at Magnostadt, and decided that while she wasn't sure of her abilities as a magician, she was always able to see little white birds floating in the sky, something her mother called 'the rukh.'

The majestic gates ahead struck fear inside Asha as she stood before them. This was it, this was Magnostadt. She gulped air and walked forward, very confused as to what the process was or if she would even be accepted into the academy. For one, she had no idea how to properly use her magic, and two, she wasn't even sure if the staff she plucked off the sleeping old man was even a real magic staff or if it was just walking stick he needed to walk with. Asha fretted about whether or not she ruined that man's day, or if she was responsible for him breaking a hip or a leg, but then decided it was in the past and she'll probably never see him again. She walked timidly, yet bravely, up to the large metal gates to address the guard in front of her.

"Sir! My name is Asha Samara and I would like to apply to Magnostadt!" She boomed, crossing her arms and standing majestically (as she called it) in front of the guard. The guard looked puzzled, and utterly confused as to the entire process of what was going on.

"Excuse me? What did you say?" The guard replied, where, despite his words, his tone was unequivocally quizzical. Asha froze in her tracks, she didn't expect this kind of response. She half-thought about trying to seduce the guard, but decided against something so childish and vulgar.

Timidly shaking her hands and backing away slowly, Asha mumbled, "Ha ha      ha don't mind me I'm just practicing for a theater piece!" Her face blushed and she calculated her next move.

"I didn't mean it to be accusative! Just...this isn't the way to Magnostadt--you're headed to Heliohapt, girl," the guard replied, now with a bit of condescension in his voice. Asha's jaw dropped--"HELIOHAPT!?" she thought, "I'M IN FRICKIN' HELIOHAPT!?"

"Well sir...I am very sorry forthisintrusionbutIguessit'smytimetoleavenowbye!" Asha stammered, backing away slowly, then quickly, then turning into a full sprint back to somewhere, she wasn't quite sure where, but it was most likely more accurate a direction than Heliohapt for sure. "Heliohapt..." She thought, "I'm never going to make it to Magnostadt at this rate. Her face sulked as she walked in some direction back from the gate on the same road she took, until she saw a carriage swing by. A wave of ideas enveloped her at this point, and with commendable gusto flagged down the caravan by throwing herself in front of the carriage.

"HEY! DO YOU KNOW WHERE MAGNOSTADT IS?" She yelled, surprising the carriage driver and bringing him to a screeching halt, nearly tumbling over the entire ensemble and crashing because of a gutsy girl whipping herself in front of a moving vehicle.