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"Caution has never been responsible for a single moment of fun- that's why its your expertise, Arti."

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ROLE

Selected Princess of Irkalla

FULL NAME

Kallansi Iyonna Sekal

kallansi- it means 'gift of the desert' in her people's tongue, a reminder of the land she was meant to lead and a stubborn defiance in the face of Avalon's empire. Generations of her family go back in a similar fashion- her mother's name had been Tarkalla, meaning 'star of the desert' before her.

iyonna- in Greek this had once meant 'a violet coloured stone', but that is a civilization long dead with only pieces of itself remaining- one such piece being this name, which Kallansi's father had simply plucked from the old world because he thought it was pretty and formidable and worthy of his daughter.

sekal- a family name protected and preserved for generations, it has become synonymous with the sun in her kingdom- a revered symbol for both creation and destruction, life and death. They believe it is a balance that must be maintained, and that is the Sekal's duty. 

AGE

22

BIRTHDAY

June 21 (the summer solstice)

GENDER

Female

PRONOUNS

She/her

SEXUALITY

Demisexual

KINGDOM

Irkalla

FACECLAIM

Ange-Marie Moutambou

PERSONALITY

The shift of the sands are in her blood, and so naturally Kalla has a hard time staying in any one place for long. She grows bored with tedium, and will make it quite known if she finds an activity useless. Kalla can be patient when she must be, holding herself still even as her skin itches, and certainly does not fidget. But too long stuck in her endless tasks and she'll have to break free for an afternoon surfing dunes or sparring to keep herself from growing frustrated and snappish. Nothing can put Kalla in a worse mood than stagnation.

She moves confidently, chin high and stride long as her every movement is smooth, purposeful, and carrying an extra threat of intent when she so chooses. Kalla has an extra elegance to her befitting her proud and noble heritage, with lithe muscles that prowl like a wildcat. She knows exactly who he is, and is perfectly comfortable in her skin. Her eyes are sharp and shrewd, intelligent and demanding on every person on which they land.

Just like the unforgiving stretch of her homeland, she likes to test the mettle of others. Kalla can find the soft underbelly of any beast, and her razor-sharp tongue is her best weapon in slashing away until she can see what colour her opponent bleeds. All are opponents until they are allies- not in the sense that Kalla would actively stand in their way, but more so that her trust is earned, and it is not done so easily. The world is split into her people and outsiders, and her somewhat pushy and hostile approach in determining whether an outsider can be trusted can make her somewhat unlikable- unfortunately for them, Kalla doesn't really care if it makes her unpopular. She is quite intuitive and skilled in this approach, and is almost always correct in her initial judgement of a person.

With those she does trust, Kalla is playful. She enjoys shocking and teasing her friends with words and action that edge into dangerous territory. Kallansi has a deep love and loyalty for all her people, and will protect them to the ends of the earth. She is tied to her responsibility and her love, and does her best to live in service to them.

The day Kalla backs down from a challenge is the day the desert floods. Her competitive spirit is alive and well, wrapped together with her love of thrills and need to prove herself. A heavy legacy sits on her shoulders, a long line of survivors and protectors that have kept their people safe and strong, slowly reclaiming more and more of their kingdom since they were conquered. The same ambition sits in her heart as in every other Sekal before her in the past 200 years- to free themselves from the rule of the Empire. It is the largest challenge she would face, and the goal she is dead set on following through.

STRENGTHS

tough- Kalla is not a girl who can be broken- not by beasts or sandstorms or crowds of her own people shouting that she and her family deserved death. Against her father's wishes, Kalla had even completed the ancient coming-of-age tradition where she was left to survive a week in the hottest part of the desert (the one that was capable of cooking a human alive) with nothing but herself, a single water skin, and a dagger. Its a royal order for those sparring against her to give their all, and Kalla has broken her nose more than once. She faces every challenge with the confidence that she can get herself through it, and does not shy away from pain or danger, making her quite headstrong and courageous.

speeches- Kalla is a very competent public speaker, and she enjoys manipulating words as they twist on her tongue, turning them to motivation or assurance or power. As a more 'in the moment' kind of person, Kalla does her best speaking fully unprepared, thrown headlong into the task with only a feeling and a voice. This has also made her a skilled storyteller, and whenever Kalla goes into town she often sits with groups of children to pass on the stories of their people, and in other special occasions entertains the city with a sand artist to help illustrate the tale.

sparring- there are beasts just as hardy as the people out in the deserts, so they had to become twice as dangerous. It is a royal tradition to become skilled with a staff, spear, and the short and curved swords they call the Tsel, and Kalla had particularly taken to the weapons. She applies her gift in reading people to determine her opponent's next move before even they do, and has a skill in disarming them before they can even get a hit in. The soldiers she spars most often with playfully call her the Horned Viper for her quick and precise strikes. Her favourite family time is spent clashing swords with her father, as they taunt each other atop matching grins.

strategy- Kallansi has a head for ruling. The resources of Irkalla are constantly stretched thin, one disaster away from a famine or mass dehydration. The care she has for her people bleeds into her passion for finding creative solutions, and Kalla has been by her father's side with her suggestions since she was fifteen. She has been brought along to important diplomatic meetings since she was even younger, and Kalla remembers the scowls or suggestions that the King and Queen's ten year old daughter run along and play with their own children. But Kalla would stay, silent and still for all but her swinging legs, taking in the dry negotiations with focused eyes and a determination of proving her parents right in including her. This was her future, her mother would say, and she was not like any other child who could go play when they wanted- Kalla had been born with responsibility, and she needed to learn how to use it. It wasn't long before she learned exactly what a man's tell was when he was lying, or the look in a woman's eyes when she was withholding information.

WEAKNESSES

confronting her own feelings- the discerning eye she has for the motivations and inclinations of others is only ever turned outward- whatever conflict that exists within her, she deals with by ignoring. It was how she dealt with her grief for her mother (she never did) and how she approaches any other kind of fear or sorrow. Kalla doesn't give her own feelings importance, and fiercely avoids crying ("what a useless way to dehydrate yourself") or facing any other unpleasant emotion. She gets frustrated and defensive whenever someone pushes her on her feelings, and has a habit of running from it and them until they drop it.

proud- though Kalla would consider this a strength, it is just as easily a weakness. Her sense of self is tied up in her people and family, both of which she is immensely proud to be a part of. She sees them all behind gold-coloured glasses, almost as if they can do know wrong, and lives every day trying to be worthy of them. This can lead her to creating grand and risky plans, or hiding parts of herself from those who love her most in an attempt to maintain their respect. Her pride can also get her in trouble when it is challenged. As one of the poorest and barren kingdoms, more than a few diplomats that she has met had evidently held her in contempt. Kalla's pride demands a blood price, and her sharp tongue will rip them to ribbons in response- which is not the best technique when trying to build alliances.

reckless- she has a spirit of change, and once her mind is set, she is too stubborn to back down. Because of everything she's survived, Kalla is almost too self-assured about her abilities and can make plans that put her in over her head. She will never risk her people or kingdom, but her own self is fair game. Her poor father swears that she is giving him a heart condition, but as long as Kalla is still in one piece at the end of the day, she counts every hasty action a success.

clueless when it comes to technology- mechanics, she can do (Arti's generosity had only gone so far in helping Kalla secretly enter and then return to races with such a high mortality rate, and after the first two times Kalla was on her own for fixing up her sand-hound between races), but computers, phones and the internet are all foreign spaces for her. Tradition means survival and honour in the Irkallan society, and it would be expensive and unwanted to set up a network of new technology within the desert. Individuals could, of course, and there was one member of the Irkallan council whose job was internet correspondence and monitoring for news, but the royal family largely preferred more traditional methods, sending letters and travelling all the way to foreign territory to negotiate. Kalla has never had an interest in changing this, and finds their way of life perfect the way it is.

BRIEF HISTORY (not that brief sorry I can't control myself)

Irkallans were a hardy people, and that made them proud of all they accomplished. Kallansi may not have been raised in a castle (such stone fortresses were impractical in the desert), but the Sekal royal family is highly respected and revered, and their sprawling single-floor estate nestled at the center of the oasis making up their capital city was no less grand. Kalla grew up surrounded by her history and the love of her people, and her own love for them was nurtured until it burned just as brightly back.

She had been brazenly adventurous as a toddler, running grand escapes as soon as she could walk. She would run from governess's in nothing but her diaper, giggling at the chaos she'd sown and quickly becoming beloved around the castle. As soon as she learned to talk, she'd speak her mind- and though she could be loud and somewhat blunt, she charmed all those she met.

She was eight when her parents first took her out of the oasis, showing her the rest of the kingdom that she had begged to see. The shifting sea of sand had been just as mesmerizing as she had always dreamed, but with that dream came the reality of sunburns and dehydration and sandstorms that could rip a caravan to shreds. Her kingdom was beautiful, but harsh and deadly, Kalla came to realize, and it was not all fun and games. The Queen didn't shy away from showing her daughter all the grisly dangers Irkalla contained- that the homeland she loved would turn against her and kill her if she wasn't so careful. But instead of fearing it, Kalla only wanted to learn more about it, to make herself a fearsome survivor that saw the desert's killing blow as little more than a challenge. Her mother had smiled at that, for that was exactly what Tarkalla had expected.

Kallansi trained among the other children her age, on equal footing with them when it came to survival. She took to it like a fish to water (not that she'd ever seen fish larger than minnows), and had sure enough collected skills like stones until the scorching desert became her companion. She would sneak out to go sledding or lay on the cool sands to watch the stars with her best friend Arti, perfectly content with the world and certain that nothing could touch her. She and her family and her kingdom were too powerful, too hardy, and they could survive anything.

Then a cruel sickness swept through the Irkallans. Disease travelled easily in the heat, and though the Sekal's had many preventive measures in place, this was one in which only half the infected actually got sick, and so it was impossible to track and contain. It spread all the way to the great Queen Tarkalla, who forbad her family from visiting her as she suffered. The king, who knew the mantle of responsibility for both a daughter and a kingdom, obeyed though it left him unable to see his love's face and comfort her through her last days. Kallansi, as a thirteen year old girl who stood up to the power of the punishing sun daily, was much less inclined to obey. 

She snuck into her mother's rooms, scaling the outer wall and squeezing herself through the window so she could rush to Tarkalla's side, clutching her hand in her own. The great Queen had been brought low by the sickness that targeted rich and poor indiscriminately, sweating through her clothes and groaning in her sleep. Kalla held her close and kissed her forehead, rubbing soothing circles over her hands when her mother cried out. The Sun Sickness was a long and painful death. By the time the doctor entered the room the next morning and saw the heir sleeping with her arm draped across her mother, it was too late. They both had to remain quarantined, and it was very possible that the kingdom would be losing their princess as well as their queen- the chances were that of a coin flip. The king raged and grieved, but he had made a promise to always listen to his queen, so he stood outside the room as he angrily scolded Kallansi with all the force of his concern, then asked her to take good care of her mother. To join him as he sung Tarkalla's favourite lullaby through the closed door.

Kalla had won the coin toss- she never got sick, but she had witnessed the moment her mother's breath left her body. Even though she stayed loyally and lovingly by her side, Torkalla had never regained consciousness in her whole time by her side, and had died without a proper goodbye.

In the following year, as the kingdom began to heal from the ravage of the sickness, Kalla began competing in sand-hound races under a pseudonym and disguise. The races were brutal and highly dangerous, which was exactly why Kalla liked them, and precisely why she didn't tell her father. She had grown reckless with the loss of her mother, desperate for a distraction from a somber home draped in black and a father that became difficult to talk to- the depth of her own grief was endless, and trying to fit it in the same room as her father's became suffocating.

The more races she entered the better she became, and years later she was a favourite of the races and there was far too much attention on her. Kalla was set to win the qualifiers into the kingdom-wide annual race, but knew that as the competitor representing the capital, she would be invited to a dinner with the royal family. She planned to throw the race, but her pride and competitive nature demanded she made it as close as possible. Suddenly Kalla was in the lead- her biggest competitor had spun out near the finish line, and only the foolish kind of risk would jeopardize her place in first without becoming suspicious. She went to take the highest jump in the route, executing an impossible flip and jumping from her hound right before she crashed it into a dune. Kalla bruised a few ribs, but had successfully been taken out of the running of the race by appearing too cocky. Unfortunately, in the crash her gauzy batoola fell off, and her face was exposed to the crowd- including the King that had come to watch his competitor win.

Kalla had never seen her father so enraged, and the palace shook for weeks under the explosive arguments between the two of them. She was confined to the palace and felt like a prisoner, fury simmering and skin itching. At her breaking point, Kalla invoked the only tradition that her father could not stand against- that of a week-long survival in the most deadly part of their kingdom, a test of strength and cunning meant for soon-to-be-rulers that had not been done in generations. But Kalla was certain she could handle it, that it would finally convince her father that she didn't need to be coddled by him. And she had missed the desert.

A week later, on her eighteenth birthday, she was left in the desert to fend for herself. It gave her much time to reflect, and there was nothing that made you think on life quite like being being so close to death. It was where her new determination came to her, the purpose that has fueled her since- to finally free Irkalla from the Empire's grip. Kalla returned stumbling and half-dead, but the first thing she did was apologize to her father and promise to approach things with him instead of against him from then on- that she would no longer act without his permission. The plan they'd drafted for the selection, while it had been Kalla's idea originally, had been determined together.

THOUGHTS ON

the empire- a product of ambition with fragile borders threatening to crumble. There were too many lands of too many cultures that the High Emperor spread greedy fingers across, and Kallansi believed, as her people have ever since they were first conquered, that he would soon lose his grip. In Irkalla, the maps they used still painted each kingdom as separate and independent, and any demonstration of the High Emperor's dominion over their kingdom had them grinding their teeth. The only thoughts she spared for the Empire were ones of disdain and her own wild dreams of leading her kingdom out from under its rule.

selecting princes- they will be her future rulers if Kalla is unable to break her kingdom free from them. That is how she sees them, and considering she has never met the twins, has difficulty seeing them as much more. She's curious to know what kind of people they are and what kind of leaders they will become, but does not see them as above her in the hierarchy of the world.

other selected- princesses, just like her, who have lost their right to rule generations ago. Kalla knows not all kingdoms have held on as tightly to the past as hers did, but she felt almost a sort of kinship with them through their shared situation. 

FAMILY

Tarkalla Aahna Sekal - mother, deceased

Arjun Sekal nee. Dorva - father, 55

Tallin Dorva - uncle, deceased

Diyana Dorva nee. Shandr - aunt, 49

Arti Tallal Dorva - cousin, 21

AESTHETIC

OUTFITS

The searing heat of the deserts demands flowing fabric and loose clothing piled in layers to conserve moisture, head scarves and tan-coloured cotton. While in the oasis the sun is less blistering, and Kalla, as well as other nobility, wear bright colours stitched with gold accents and glittering jewelry. Their outfits are in much the same style, but more skin can be exposed while in the oasis and the current style of draping fabric and sashes cinched at the waist over loose pants or skirts is popular. Kalla is particularly fond of the colour purple, and many of her clothes are of that signature deep colour accented with the gold of her family's colour. She is often barefoot in the oasis, as she loves to feel the sand between her toes, but wears tough-soled boots when the terrain turns rough and burning. She wears a golden circlet while attending formal meetings, her equivalent of a crown, which has points along the circle that make it look like a sun. Her face and arms are decorated in golden or white body paint for formal occasions or festivities.

SCARS

- Kalla was stung by a scorpion when she was five, and though her nursemaid had sucked out the poison before it was too late, there's a circular scar on the side of her left thigh that has grown with her

- Wrapped around her left upper arm is a jagged scar from one time when she wiped out hard during one of her races, leaving her entire arm and shoulder scratched up by the sand, granite, and warped metal- Kalla had worn long sleeves and bangles for a while after that to hide the injury from her father, and had grown an affinity for arm bangles from it

- A rock split open the bottom of her foot when she was running once, and this has left a long scar across the length of her right foot's arch

- There is a sliver of a scar cut diagonally over Kalla's heart, a reminder of an assassination attempt that had almost been a success

- A cougar found her near the end of her right of passage, and her right shoulder and ribs have the bite marks and scratches to prove it. So does the pelt now displayed in the King's great hall

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"What are a few blisters in the face of flying?"

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