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Placeholder, combination bullet points and story
The late afternoon in early spring when Lady Abigail Sokar went into labor wasn't any different from any other day in late spring. The windows were open to let in the fragrant air of early spring blossoms, and the child came without difficulty. In fact, it seemed that the little girl with big, blue eyes, was in a rush to escape the confines of the womb and breathe the free air. The only oddity was noted by the midwife, a woman who'd attended many noble births, especially among the Sokars. She felt a prickle at the back of her neck, as if a draft had passed along the little hairs there, but put it down to the lengthening shadows outside the open windows as the sunk sank, and the breeze chilled without it's warmth. She never forgot that moment, but she never spoke of it, either. Not even years later when priests of The One began asking questions.
The looks and whispers from common and noble people alike as she grew into a pale child, so different from the darker coloring of the rest of her family, made Chessa feel uncomfortable. She knew the dark looks, signs to avoid evil, and people crossing the street were because of her, but she hadn't done anything to any of these people, so why did they act that way? She became a retiring child, who only went out when necessary, but kept to herself as much as possible.
One day, when she was playing about the Sokar house at Four Corners, and had climbed a tree to hide away from the world, another girl her age climbed an adjacent tree on the other side of the garden wall. When Catalina Esposito didn't stare, or make a gesture, or climb back down, but talked to her as if she were a perfectly normal person, Chessa immediately adored her. To her mother's dismay, though, Catalina was every bit the tomboy Chessa was, and was no help at all trying to settled the youngest Sokar down to be a lady as befitted her rank. The two fast friends have tumbled from one adventure to the next, causing more than one uproar in their neighboring houses.
Since Catalina's influence only encouraged Chessa, she grew into a wild child that was surprisingly accurate with a bow, something that furthered the impression that she was some kind of creature rather then human girl. She loved stories, and found that sailors, who'd seen many odd things, weren't as put off by her, and would tell her tales of foreign lands, and fables that couldn't be true. The one accomplishment that Lady Abigail managed to convince her daughter to pursue was the study of music and playing of instruments, and the girl has a couple of favorite wind instruments. Although her mother would have preferred that the instruments be a hobby while Chessa studied how to run a noble home and therefore be an attractive bride some day; Chessa decided to pursue music studies at the Academy at Four Corners.
Not long after the releasing of magic into the world once again, the air and winds began doing some odd things around Chessa. She decided it was her imagination, and didn't speak of it. A fortnight later, Lord Sir Jarret and company were leaving Four Corners for the Sokar lands of Galenthia. Traveling in the middle of the company, answering a call from the family, was one Lady Chessa. As they rode, with the wind at their backs, she couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong ahead of them. When Jarret dropped back to check on her, she told him that she just had a sense that there was something happening ahead of them, that she /knew/ there was activity going on, like a seething anthill, around a pass they were approaching. Her cousin called a halt, and sent scouts ahead to check. Sure enough, an ambush was being set up. Jarret used that information to his advantage, and turned the ambush on the ambushers, losing few men and winning the day. Laying awake that night, Chessa thought of how she had 'felt' the disturbance in the path of the wind, and when rumors began of an Academy for Sorcerors, she decided to sneak over and find out if she was, indeed, using sorcery. Taking the code name of Terrapene, she not only learned how to control her own powers, but has been doing her part to help unearth the lost knowledge of magic.
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