[HUTCHES2B] Ravenna Rivers

Name: Ravenna “Raven” Rivers

Age: 18

Gender: Female

Species: Druid

Allegiance to House: Tully of the Riverlands

Role to House: Citizen

Personality:
Ravenna is a quiet individual that has very little to say on most occasions, but this is only due to the fact that she avoids human contact on as many levels as she can. Instead of enjoying the life in the cities, like so many citizens, Ravenna is a woman who can be found dwelling within the small, log and mud built hut within the forests that encompass the Red Fork. This isolation from the main towns has caused Ravenna to slightly fear the mortal man, even though she knows that as a species of the forest, a child born into the natural world, she is stronger than said mortal man, yet there have still been tales that were told to her by the elders when she still remained a part of the small Druid community that found refuge along the sides of the Trident. It was these tales that spoke of the power-hunger that was borne within man, and the lust for more than what was had, in order to increase personal gain and profit. Man was believed to be a greedy species that would burn down forests in order to make their point to their foes; and this is what Ravenna feared most about their destructive nature. For being a Child of the Forest means that she has an unnaturally strong bond with the flora and fauna that coat the areas, stronger, even, than the bond shared between the woodland elf and the earth; and when the earth is laced in fire, she feels the pains and the agony of the trees and the fauna caught in the middle of senseless war.

However, Ravenna is not a complete recluse to the world, and on the few occasions that she leaves her hut in search of spices and other things that may be purchased in the market square not far from the Red Fork, she will not shun the courteous person who will turn to greet her. She will return the welcome with one of her own, before moving on in a carefree manner as she sets to maintaining her own personal balance that coincides with the forests around her. Apart from this, to those that have the pleasure of conversing with her, they will find that there is more to this woman than the beauty that radiates from her gentle features; mysteries and an endless age of secrets follow this woman’s every dainty movement, imprinting curiosity upon the minds that have the pleasure of meeting this rare, and unique woman. She almost tries to maintain this mystery about her as her answers are sometimes masked by riddles that often make reference to the earth around her, or she simply acts in a sly manner.

Revanna is a kind and gentle woman that will treat any ailment or injured fellow that she may find laying within the forests, should he or she need her help; however, this is only able to happen if the earth deems the person a friend to her. If he is foe, than the natural world will forbid her to care for the wounded, and instead, she will be forced to turn a blind eye to the weak, as the earth takes over his body and the flesh becomes the very composite that feeds the soil. Ravenna will do anything in order to preserve the earth and the trees around her, therefore, if anyone means to do any harm to the earth, an ugly side of this peaceful woman will begin to show. Instead of using her powers to heal, she will become wrought with rage that will force the natural entities of her powers to be unleashed; this means that the dangers that are associated with a natural magic will be presented as she will fight to the death in order to save the world around her. It can thus be concluded that this Child of the Forest shows an extreme dedication to her role as the Guardian of the Woods and Lands.

Physical Description:



Ravenna is a ravishing young woman with a thick mane of deep ebony hair that earned her the nickname of “Raven” among the people that were a part of the small Druid tribe within the Northern regions when she was a mere infant child to the world. However, due to constantly being in the outdoors and exposed to the bright, tropical sun, Ravenna her hair has faded in a few areas to produce natural dark brown/chestnut highlights, which help enhance the pretty little features that she has been blessed with. With regards to length, her hair sits just below the nipples of her breasts, and possesses a beautiful natural wave that sometimes forms delicate curls among the ends of her hair. Being a woman of the forest, she has little need to wear her hair up and thus leaves her hair long and flowing, with a decoration of feathers entwined into her hair to add to the natural flair on most days.

Ravenna is a petite girl with a little frame and a small waist line that she has no fear showing off as she wears the cropped mail vest, that is pulled tightly against her body by another cropped version of a leather vest, studded with gold bolts and buckles. Her arms are strong and well toned due to the manual labour that she performs about the forest in which she dwells, as well as the maintenance of her quaint hut in which she dwells. However, as a typical druid trait the ends of her nails of her fingers have elongated slightly into something that resembles claws. Although she has no need to hide these typical traits when working in the forest, when she embarks into town, she usually wears leather gloves to mask the deadly looking talons. Her legs also possess that same strong, well-toned appearance that complement her arms, where a small leather made skirt hugs only a small portion of her thighs, back and front, leaving most of her lean legs exposed to cuts and bruises that may occur due to the constant working in the forests.

This gorgeous druid possesses a very pretty little face where the typical tribal markings of the Druids has been drawn and painted upon her forehead in the black of the raven and the green of the earth. However, to many it appears as if rhinestones finish the decoration to her face, yet these stones were not stuck upon her skin manually, but they were implanted in her skin at birth by a force not known to mankind, but could only be explained as the secretive workings of the forests where the small tribe of Druids had once lived. These stones were, at first, tiny pinpricks on the girl’s skin, yet as she grew into the vibrant woman as she is today, the shining stones grew larger so that they sat in proportion with her sweet, almost innocent features. Upon traveling, Ravenna will usually be adorned in a woolen gray cloak that was handmade for her by a grateful woman of the North whose husband was cured by Ravenna’s skilled hands.



Powers and Abilities:
Ravenna possesses the usual powers that all Druids are graced with, and these include the powerful forces over nature, and all things natural. They are able to communicate with the world, and they are able to hear the true whispers embedded within the trees, that tell their tales of wars fought in the far South and devious deception in the North. Apart from this communication with the trees and wind, Ravenna is also able to communicate with the fauna around her, which often enough serve as the greatest warning system if any imbalance within the world takes its shift. However, her strength in her magical powers lies in her ability to summon terrible storms to wreak havoc upon the mortal world in the face of war, and any event that would threaten the well being of the earth and its natural inhabitants, which include the vegetation and the animals that seemed to share the highly tuned feeling for the earth. She is also able to cause thorns to suddenly sprout from her skin in response to an attacker trying to subdue her, where these thorns would cause grievous bodily harm, as well as the harmless roots around her may begin to grow up and out of the soil at a greatly accelerated pace in order to entangle a foe at any given command that the druid provides.

However, the druid does not only possess the power to bring forth the full wrath of a natural world in distress, they also possess the somnolence and peaceful attributes. These include the ability to heal the seriously wounded, which therefore, makes Ravenna the perfect tool for the Riverlands should they encounter the treacheries of war and strife; she has the ability to brew potions and enchant them with a simple spell that will strengthen the herbs and thus cause a healing effect to occur. Apart from this, and the communication of animals, she may also subdue animals by causing a clam aura to sweep across the land, should the forests be threatened by fire or other imbalances. For some of the more jittery creatures, she may cause them to fall into a state of hibernation until the repair of the world has been completed.

Strengths and Weaknesses:

Strengths:
Ravenna’s strength lies in the world around her and the balance of it all being maintained throughout the course of her ceaseless life span. With these abilities of listening to the gentle whisperings of trees and the wind, Ravenna is able to stay in touch with the various events occurring throughout the world without having read or heard this from a herald or amongst the citizens within the towns and villages that are scattered about the Riverlands. Due to the fact that she has learned to live on her own means that she has developed a daunting independence, which means that she can take care of herself without the aid of anyone. She is brilliant when it comes to concocting potions and herbal remedies that will help the sickly due to the fact that she possesses an infinite knowledge of the herbs and plants, and their special attributes, that was granted upon her with thanks to the tribe of the Druids that she was once a part of.

Weaknesses:
Ravenna’s weakness lies in the fact that she is totally dependent upon the life in the outdoors where she may be graced by the whispers of the wind, and where she can enjoy the heavy scents that the various trees provide. If she is confined within the darkness of the indoors, she will begin to become weak, with the life slowly ebbing away from her body. With this lack of the natural world, not only will her life force begin to deplete, but also the strength of her magical abilities and powers, which will first become a shadow of their former selves, before completely dying out into nothingness. Another aspect of this secretive druid can be pointed towards her love of nature and her duty to maintain the balance, for whenever there is the slightest imbalance in the natural world, she will become restless and feisty, her mood will be altered to something more vengeful and she will not rest until she has restored the balance between the fauna and flora, even if it costs her more than the energy that she possesses.
Her independence and strong determination may also be seen as a weakness, however, due to the fact that all the times she has spent in isolation within the forest has made her a little insensitive towards the mortals that flood the villages and cities; she almost possesses a strong attitude of disregard for people who attempt to help her, and it is often that this stubborn independence will see to it that she suffers in some way or another.

Weapons and Armour of Choice:
Ravenna doesn’t really find the need to carry weapons due to the fact that she is able to control the forces and elements of the natural world where the creatures and the earth will come to her aid should she need defences against some person who would seek to do harm against her. If cornered, her skin will sprout with thorns, which she is able to toss from her fingers; however, regardless of the natural powers, she carries a unique dagger that carries the typical carvings of the Druids along the blade, while the hilt has been carved from the wood of a Weirwood tree, therefore granting Ravenna blessing from the Old Gods to watch over her.



Background History:
The Life of a Druid ~ As Told by Ravenna Rivers

I have thought it wise to provide a recollection of my thoughts and action, ambitions and disappointments so that humanity may learn more of the sacred Druidic way, and no longer condemn us for our ties with the wraths and peacefulness of nature. We are but a people who walk through the trees listening and hearing all that the world needs to tell us; we are the true Guardians of the Forests and Woods, the Keepers of Waters, and the Voice through which the Old Gods communicate with the rest of the world, should they find reason to. We have been called many things over the years of our existence: Children of the Forest and the Wind Whisperers being among the most common. Yet while the basic assumption is true, there is still a lot that man needs to learn in order to understand the true intentions of the Druids.

While my life, to this day, has consisted of the ups and downs that any mortal would experience, the fact that I had no knowledge of who my mother was, was enough to stir up an unquiet restlessness within my youthful body when I was a mere infant. The first recollections that my memory has embedded about my birth was the sight of a woman with dark, auburn flowing long hair and a porcelain face that could cause a smile to be borne upon the most miserable of faces. Yet, I was, as I have said, extremely young at the time of my recollections of my mother, and the rest of that memory has been forgotten as the sands of time fell away to see my reach my name days with speedy succession. I have often asked my father where I had come from, being a female amongst the many men of our tribe, I saw no woman that could suffice for being my maternal figure, for all had fair mousey to blonde hair and harsher features than that of what I remember. My father always told me I was the special child that was born from the very soil of the earth as a Druid set for greatness with regards to maintaining that sensitive balance between worlds. However, as I grew and the belief of this fairy tale fell away, I knew that there had to be some reason why my father had kept my conception a secret. It was on the eve of my sixteenth name day that I approached him once again, with a determination as he had never seen before. The more he tried to cover up the tales of my birth, the more I persisted for the truth, until the very powers that I was blessed with burst forth in an uncontrollable rage. Roots shot from the ground to ensnare my father in their thorny embrace, while the sun was forced behind large sooty black thunder clouds that shot bolts of lightning from their puffy surfaces. My father’s eyes were wide with terror; I will never forget that first encounter with the druidic powers of my ancestors. It was then that he succumbed and told me the story of how I came to be in this world, and why my mother was not around to watch me flourish and bloom into the flower that I am today.

She was a Lady in the North; she was a gorgeous woman with wavy auburn hair that shone as if it were comprised of amber gems. I had met her during one of my journeys into town to retrieve a few items for the tribe. She was ravishing in a thick red satin gown that held the appearance of the purest blood; she had helped me to my feet when I had fallen face first into the cold cobbled walkway of the market square as a thief made to catch my purse with the few measly coins we had. She had helped me to collect my groceries and spared me a few more coins so that I may purchase the few items that I still needed. I had then offered to keep her company as she continued through the market, and before I knew it, we found ourselves wandering through the forests of the North, drunk on the ecstasy and electrifying attraction that we shared. She was yet to wed a member of the Stark family, it was apparently the eve before her wedding night, and it was with me, a complete stranger, that she chose to share her concerns with due to the fact that she believed that I was as trustworthy as the silent trees that filled the woodlands. She spoke of her fears of moving from the Riverlands and into the colder climates of the North; she was worried about becoming a stranger to the woods where the Old Gods reigned supreme, yet, I gave her the council she needed. I told her that the Old Gods were merciful to all those that entered into their lands without the intent to harm the balance between Nature and the world around us all. She had kissed me in a moment of lustful passion as thanks to my kind words, and before I knew it, we had become tangled upon the grounds with leaves sticking to our forms and our hair. It was a mistake that I would gladly make again, My Child, for without it you would not have found this earth. I owe Catelyn Tully all that I have for bringing you into the world; it might have cost her 9 months of her life away from her husband, with a story that covered up an action that no one to this day knows about. This is a secret that I will carry to my grave...

I had listened intently to my father’s words and how he spoke of the woman who had been the cause of my birth; the way he described her was something like from the old heroes tales that our tribe would tell each other over the fires of a hearty dinner. I could see that he had true feelings locked for this woman behind his eyes, yet it was masked behind a thick wall of sadness. No Lord or Lady of some noble house would ever be able to wed a Druid of the Forest, this was, and still is, the simple workings of the world, and my kind has learnt to accept this as time went on. But I had finally gotten my wish, and that was to know who my birth mother was. So, I had some sort of this Tully blood flowing through my veins, yet my father and I had been abandoned by her and my blood had never felt greener that day.

The Life in the Tribe of the Druids:

Being a part of the tribe meant that everyone was family; I had so many brothers that weren’t of blood that I could not count them all on my fingers, while the women had taken me to be their own child. There was definitely no shortage of love and tender care within the tribe that fed off of the radiance of the natural woodlands and forests of the Northern regions where snow fell thickly in winters and the summers were short and still chilly. We were a close knit group where each person had a specific chore to undertake and perform on a daily basis. We worked as a single unit, an accomplishment that many a man would have envied. They were kind to me even though I was a bastard child in this strange land, yet they still saw me as a member of their community and they still loved my father. The tribesmen that had been a part of my life were the kindest individuals that one would ever lay eyes on.
As an infant, the women would cover me in feathers and deem me the gift that the winds brought on their tails, for I was supposed to resemble some sort of miracle child that was to be the Guardian of the Waters of the Trident – it was, according to the elder, my fate in this life.

As I grew, I began to control the druidic powers easily, using them to maintain the blissful harmony experienced in the Wolfswood while my knowledge of remedies and herbal cures grew infinitely with the help of both my father and the Druid physician of the tribe. I could not deny that I held a strong interest in such antics. However, the blissful experience of this peaceful community was soon to come to an end. A sickness, black as death, swept through the forests and upset the balance that we had all worked so hard to maintain. With the trees withering in illness, and the animals dying from starvation, our world was thrown into a complete and utter chaos; with the death of the woodland surroundings, some of the druids suffered with the earth, and grew dangerously ill, especially those who were a decent few hundred years of age. They would lay in their leaf and log made huts groaning in pain while flies marked their deaths; it was a grotesque sight that would forever haunt my dreams. Apart from this, some of the younger druids suffered from insanity as the screams and petrified cries carried upon the howling winds at night drove them to sleepless eves and days filled with pain and anguish – these few individuals eventually lost their minds and ran from the safety of the tribes in an attempt to free their minds from the horrors. I too suffered, but, somehow, I was sheltered from the sheer brutality of the entirety of this deadly disease; I was soon to find out that it was my father who had sacrificed his life force in order to keep me well. As trees burned as an attempt to wash away the illness and plague that was brought by war and the careless trespassing of the mortal men, the druids of my tribe began to die out; at first it was one a day, however, as days passed into weeks, it was no surprise to find no fewer than five fatalities, each more grievous than the last.
With my father’s dying breath, he had told me to flee. He had whispered that I leave this accursed place that was to be bathed in shadows for the rest of eternity, and with every struggling will that I had left, I obeyed my father’s dying wish, carrying only what I could as I staggered through the tangled mess of what was once a majestic wood. I could not help but cry the wounds of my loss, for, at that moment, it felt as if I had lost everything, as if the Old Gods had abandoned me and left me in a world of shadow and fire. Yet, one night, as I lay in a restless slumber, I can recall the old Weirwood that would shelter us with its red leaves. It had spoken to me through the aspect of dreams, and it had told me to not grieve the lost for they were one with the earth. It was their energy, their souls that had poured into the soul granting life to the Wolfswood once again. I had felt warmer still when my father’s voice rang clear through my ears once again, blessing me with his love and pride for a daughter that knew little of her mother but had been strong and still held love for her father.

A Lonely Guardian:

This is the final instalment in this scripture that I have written to be passed down to mortal hands after my death. It is here that I shall continue my woeful tale, only to end it shortly for I have yet to reach into future years to uncover the rest of this plot.

It had seem like days as I followed the White Knife, venturing further from the colder climates of the North and the Gods that I had grown to love. I had felt a certain draw towards the rushing current of the Trident, and this was the destination of my journey. My mother had been a woman of the Riverlands and so I thought I might as well take on the task of living in this warmer climate, which was slightly tamer than the feral forests of the North. I adopted the surname, Rivers, which was given to all bastards of the Riverlands – however, it was not due to the fact that I knew not of my mother but because it was a name that coincided with the earth. I had journeyed over three weeks through the lands, using only my feet to carry me, and camping beneath the stars and evening moon each night; however, soon enough I was to find the perfect place to call my home. It was in the setting just off the edges of the Red Fork, in a wood where luscious green grass grew everywhere and the trees swayed happily in the breeze that I began to build the little hut I would call home. Barely anyone passes through these trees, which makes life peaceful and serene where my knowledge is able to enhance with each passing day as no one disturbs my quiet meditation and connections with the trees and animals around me.

I have come to call this new place my home, and with it, the old memories of the painful deaths of my people remain as nothing but shadows in my mind, for I was given a glimpse into the intentions of the Old Gods and saw how their life energy allowed the ancient wood of the wolves to be reborn into something more splendid and crawling with life. Perhaps the same destiny awaits me as I guard the waters of the Trident from the pollutions that man may cause with their endless, futile wars. Only time will truly tell, but for now, I am happy in my recluse area where my thoughts bind with all that is around me...