"Most things break, including hearts. The lessons of life amount not to wisdom, but to scar tissue and callus."
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Background
Admiral of the Coning fleet. Youngest of the mainline Sokar brood.
Rowena Sokar was born of Duchess Isabel Sokar and her spouse Gregory Sokar nee Romante, in Dalcen. She was trouble for the Duchess to bring into the world, nearly costing the woman her life with the plumpness and lateness of her infancy. The chubby nature of the girl would continue until she was nearing the end of her childhood, giving her an ugly duckling existence the whole way through.
The impact was to her own perception of who she was, that she wasn't physically appealing and never thought she could be. She knew (and was told, repeatedly) vanity could never carry her in the world and early on, she was considered a handsome girl, so she knew, vanity was not an option. Looks withered and faded with age and when a woman didn't have her looks, all she had left for a weapon was her mind. Rowena was taught she had to be more than what was reflected in a mirror.
Still, social situations continued be a stress for her to manage, preferring to be a person who observed from the side lines and would offer smiles rather than words to a given conversation. Her mother demanded she acquire a backbone and wouldn't tolerate anything less. Rowena forced herself to develop methods to cope with social expectations and how to work her way through a conversation. If left her to own devices, she would much rather take to being a loner than trying to fudge her way through a group setting.
She was young when the Thirty Year War came to an end and the concept of what the war was told in stories to her as a little girl. The war of her time, had been the Succession War. She was ten when it began and would be turning twenty when it ended. The time in between had been strenuous, though she quickly became known as an 'old soul' during these years. Her opinions were reserved and when she offered them, she spoke with a wisdom someone her age normally didn't.
She was interested in education and sharpening her mind most of all, while secondary pursuits had been to school her body. For the mind, unlike her siblings who pursued law specifically, she did stick to the general studies at first and would taper off toward the healing arts, stewardship, and engineering. She also picked up how to sing and dance, activities generally expected of a noble woman of her station. To her surprise, she could let loose when in the dance and forget the world existed when she sang. She had a decent voice and she didn't have to crush too many of Davor's toes to learn how to dance.
For her body, this was harder than most. She was built thicker and wider than other girls, even though the stubborn childhood fat would melt away in her later teenage years (and all accounts she would turn into a swan). It still required effort and countless hours of training to be strong. She relied most often upon the Great Salt River and would swim twice a day, once at dawn and once before evening fell upon the land. She could swim like a fish and loved the water since she was young enough to remember. The activity kept her fit and built lithe muscles upon her, so she could climb the ropes on one of the ships in the fleet of the Red Sails.
And that was her ultimate plan, to earn a place upon one of the ships of the fleet. She believed it could be her way to help in the war effort. As fate would have it, she finally made it aboard a Red Sail when she was age to squire.
She would spend these teenage years upon the sea, honing her body to enable some daring acrobatics that allowed her move her about the ships rigging and honing her mind to learn the skills necessary to command. The captain she was with treated her only as a noble woman of high standing during the private sessions, where she was given practice with a crossbow and taught how to defend herself. Otherwise, she was one of the crew and learned quickly to toughen up.
With the threat of raiders increasing and the scope of the political drama unraveling, Rowena was recalled home. It was not, however, where she stayed. She had flowered in her time with the Red Sails, and even her mother, reluctant as she often seemed to be, to see the growing maturity in her daughter, could not ignore the promise that her youngest child showed. And so, for Rowena it was not to a marriage bed, or a drawing room that she was directed, but back to the sea.
A single ship to begin with, to test her mettle, to prove her worth as a ship's Captain. And in the years that would come after, she not only met her mother expectations, but bested them, rising to command a small clutch of ships, the hold the ear of the commander of the Red Sails and to do what she had found herself capable of doing. Serving and protecting the family and its holdings.
And now, once again, war looms, and Rowena had stepped up to the challenge of command.
On the Grid
“Perhaps a wiser eye than hers would be able to read tomorrow in tonight's stars, but where was the fun in that? It was better not to know. Better to be alive in the Here and the Now - in this bright, laughing moment - and let the Hours to come take care of themselves.”
"She's…just a girl, you know. Like most girls: something and nothing."
Tall, almost shockingly so, at five feet and well on ten inches in her bared feet. The woman carries herself with all of the grace of the hound trained to the hunt; lithe and graceful. Sun-dappled blonde hair froths in soft waves around her face, when not kept back in a pair of close braids, sun-bronzed skin accented by brilliant, sea-blue eyes and full, sensual lips. She wears the typical dress of a sailor, close-fitted black leather pants and a long-sleeved white linen shirt, black vest overlaid with a richly padded gambeson in that same inky black. The cut and quality of the material is of superior quality, denoting her place as Captain, rather than ordinary sailor.
Personality:
Rowena has grown much, since she was the youngest, though, if truth be told, never the dearest of the Sokar children. Childhood insecurity has given way to a quick mind, a commanding presence, and a fierce independence. She serves her house with steadfast determination, and will not suffer failure; in herself, or in others. If only Rowena Sokar could see how much she had come to resemble the woman they call the Dragon Lady.
Traits:
Closet Introvert: Rowena struggles to manage being in social situations and yet is fiercely determined to cope with it.
Pro: Have to endure long days alone or closeted inside a ship with nothing but your own thoughts and the same crew for company? No problem!
Con: Easily overwhelmed in the midst of too much commotion. Too many people, too much noise.
Sage: Never one to think without speaking, she'll keep herself withdrawn from a conversation until she has an opinion well thought out and formed.
Pro: A quick and curious mind with a love of learning makes her imminently adaptable.
Con: The slowness with which she enters into conversation often leads people to believe her to be slow, or dim-witted.
Ambitious: She was raised in the Dragon Lady's lair. She's been ambitious since day one, even if she doesn't know it.
Pro: Willing and able to use all of her skills and talents to further the fortunes of her family.
Con: Sometimes, people don't appreciate being trampled on in the process.
Daredevil: She's never gotten it out of her head that she had to prove that she's one of the boys.
Pro: She never met a challenge she wouldn't face head on and does not seem to understand the meaning of the word no.
Con: Sometimes, when you play with fire, you get burned. Badly.
Stunts
Natural Leader (+2 Command): Rowena inherited much more than her cunning mind from her mother and excels as a commander of men, on land and at sea.
Rugged (Ignore 2 points of physical stress earned during this round only OR a circumstance stunt style +2 to a physical skill roll): Rowena has worked hard to push her body to the peak of its performance. She often trains harder and longer than anyone else on the crew.
Skilled: Sailing (+2 Sailing): She's been on the seas since she was young enough to garner permission. There are few things she loves more, and even though she's ascended to a Captaincy, she maintains her skill and fitness to serve on a deck.
Strong Willed (Ignore 2 points of mental stress earned during this round only OR +2 to resist an appropriate manipulation check): In the years since she's come into her own, she's grown as mentally tough as she has physically.
There are any number of rumours, facts, and fictions about Rowena which speak to the origins of her byname specifically, and her life and command style generally.
- The mental and physical toughness she developed in her years of serving aboard a ship are said to have laid the groundwork for her name. She had, in her formative years prided herself on never refusing an order or failing to meet a challenge, even when it was clear that it might prove dangerous or impossible for the girl. This refusal to step back continues to this day. The very idea that she might disappoint her family, or her Mother is completely and utterly anathema to her.
- Despite her sometimes considered overly daring nature, she values her crew and her ships dearly, and will never ask them to take any challenge she would not face herself, or to do work which she will not assist them with. Not only does she expect the best from her crew, she demands it of herself.
- Despite her Captaincy, she has no qualms about getting back onto the line and crewing a ship's station if the need arises. To that end, she rarely dresses in anything more extravagant than the normal plain clothes and light armor of a sailor, so as no to impede her ability to man a station.
- She is not known for her personal sentimentality, but strives to treat her crew as fairly as possible, regardless of their place or station in society. Despite the demands she places on her crews, this egalitarian streak has, over the years, made her ships a prize assignment for sailors of all stripes.
- There is some rumour that the name might have also derived from her complete lack of personal, intimate relationships or desire for the same. So far as any of her crew has ever been able to gauge, and they, in some cases, know her better than her own relations, Rowena has never taken a lover, nor had any relationships which might be considered affectionate. When such needs have arisen, she will make use of a small selection of courtesans, the arrangements handled discretely by the young woman who acts as her steward. Some of the more uncharitable talk claims that she's never had a man she hasn't paid for, and that well might be entirely true, as Rowena has never attempted to refute such gossip.
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From Partharia
42 Partharian Warhorses
-1 To Dertan
-1 to Tavi (Tourney Prize)
From Galenthia
(Repelling a Partharian Raid)
1 Romante Riding Horse from Alicante
50 Crowns
(Reclaiming a Town and Keep from Bandits)
50 Crowns
(Finding a Sidhe Silver Tea Set)
35 Crowns
(Raiding Partharia for Galenthia)
25 Crowns
(Defending against White Hall. Not dying by Old Thing)
15 Crowns
(Defending against Matinga)
100 Crowns
- 1876-03-28: A Message to Coning
- 1875-12: Inquiries Are Made
- 1875-12-15: A Captain's Reports
- 1875-12-02: From The Salt Sea
- 1875-11-30: Fresh Fletching
- 1875-11-30: They Came from the Salt
- 1875-11-24: Many Roads, Much Work
- 1875-06-29: Coning's Fleet Reborn
- 1875-06-22: The Return of the Red Sails
- 1875-06-17: Shipwrights of Coningsburgh
- 1875-05-18: Updates from the Captain
- 1875-01-06: A Captain's Demesne
- 1874-12 - Interlude: Rowena
- 1874-08-01: Sokar-Tarris Wedding
- 1874-06-22: Have Hope