[hider=Shara][center][img]https://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjcyLmZmZmZmZi5VMmhoY21FZ1ozSmhMVVIxYzJodWFXcywuMAAA/six-feet-under.regular.png[/img][hr][img]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EdkYeGhWkAI0YCF?format=png&name=4096x4096[/img][hr]Orsimer  ||  Female  ||  28  ||  The Warrior
[i]Dushnik Yal Stronghold, Skyrim[/i][/center][hr][img]https://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjIyLmZmZmZmZi5RWEJ3WldGeVlXNWpaUSwsLjAAAAAA/six-feet-under.regular.png[/img] 

Shara takes after her mother’s beauty. She has soft features and less bulk on her than other orcs; she stands at only 5’5, well below average. Her skin is a dark shade of green. Though her body itself is scarred by her time fighting and mining, her face is unscathed and she often covers her scars with modest clothes. Her hair is black, wavy, and about shoulder length. She leaves it uncared for often, which is a leftover from her rebellious teenage years when she would do it to spite her mother. She never got into the habit of caring for it. Because her mother made such a big deal about her beauty, she does her best not to emphasize it and cares little for looks. Though she used to be very muscled, they deteriorated since she stopped training and fighting as hard and she has a more simply athletic build more suited to hunting and climbing than wearing heavy armour and wielding a mace. 

She typically wears regular, cotton or leather traveller’s clothes, acquired during her time with Anthar as one of the commodities they often traded. She favours comfortable pants which are easy to run or climb in, as she has a fondness for such activities when she has the chance, and spurns dresses and other clothes which she believes attempt to enhance one’s beauty, such as jewelry. She no longer walks like a warrior, and on the contrary, she makes attempts to relax her fighter’s instincts rather than listen to them. Having once broken both of her legs, she is grateful to be able to walk at all, and running, jumping or climbing are now seen as luxuries to her. She often moves at a lively pace, leaving others to keep up. [hr][img]https://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjIwLmZmZmZmZi5TR2x6ZEc5eWVRLCwuMAAA/six-feet-under.regular.png[/img]
As Shara was born in an Orsimer stronghold, her father was the chief of Dushnik Yal and her mother was his third wife. She had no full siblings, but several half-siblings through her father and his other wives. Her mother, Kuza, was the chief’s favourite wife, a delicate and soft woman who had put hard days working in the mine long behind her. She was beloved to her husband, but looked down on by others for her lack of work ethic. 

Shara inherited Kuza’s delicate, beautiful features, to her mother’s delight. She told her daughter she would marry a chief, as her mother did, and she didn’t need to do the work of smithing and hunting the way the rest of the stronghold did. But Shara hated being restricted by her mother, and at every turn she would sneak off to play or train with the other children. Like other orcs, she learned blacksmithing, hunting, and fighting, though thanks to her mother, it was a spottier education than others received. Unfortunately for her, the others her age noticed the way Shara was smaller and softer than them, and simply less of a natural at the skills she tried to learn. Despite how hard she tried, Shara didn’t quite fit in with either her mother or the others her age.

In Shara’s teenage years, her mother doubled down on driving her in the direction of marriage and children. It drove Shara further and further from her mother as a rebellious streak kicked in. At every turn, Shara would avoid her mother in favour of hunting or mine work. It drove a wedge between them and by the time Shara was old enough for her mother to begin arranging marriage to another chief, she had no intentions of going. She spent increasing amounts of time hunting on her own, and argued furiously with her mother about how she did not, in fact, want a husband, nor children. 

When Kuza’s attempts to marry Shara to another stronghold became too strong to ignore and the engagement too serious, Shara finally made a snap decision to leave the stronghold amidst a fight with her mother. The decision, made in haste, left her feeling adrift as she wandered Skyrim. She headed for the nearest city, Markarth. 

It was a rude awakening for Shara when she realized, outside the stronghold, she would need money in exchange for a place to sleep and food to eat, as opposed to her previous communal lifestyle. After a few days and an unpaid tab at an inn, she was chased out onto the street. 

It was the beginning of a new lifestyle, living among Nords, especially on the street. She realized quickly she would need to work, so she began looking for it. Shara was never one to let an opportunity slide by, so over the months she spent in Markarth, she worked as many different things, from blacksmithing and mining as she was used to, to working for a tanner, a fisherman (her favourite of the bunch), and even an alchemist. She picked up many things assisting skilled workers, but never found anything to excel at herself beyond assisting. She began to enjoy her life in Markarth, the jobs she did, and the skills she learned, even though she always felt like an outsider among the Nords, who weren’t always interested in hiring some orc. Her smaller size and less hard looks, compared to other orcs, worked in her favour. 

The opportunity that took her away from Markarth came one evening when Shara was having a drink at an inn. The night began with several drinks too many, an arm-wrestling match with a muscled Khajiit woman, climaxed with a bar brawl and ended with a job offer. Though Shara took more to hunting than fighting, she was still born and raised in a stronghold, and her instincts were good. She held her own, and the Khajiit - Kihani - invited her aboard her band of mercenaries, who were on their way to High Rock.

As it turned out, Shara felt the most at home among the band as she had her whole life. They helped her improve her fighting and archery skills and accepted her as one of their own. They shared camps and meals, which comforted Shara as she felt most at home this way, and even as they took the odd mercenary job, the fighting wasn’t too hard.

She spent five years with the company, who she began to see as family. However, things changed over the years. Kihani and the others took their search for coin seriously, and spent it as quickly as they could earn it with mercenary work. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the group turned to banditry. It began with cutting corners on jobs, taking bribes, and, years in, ended as highwaymen set up along roads. 

Shara didn’t think about it very hard. Feeling accepted for the first time, she was loyal to her new family to a fault. But it came to a head when a band of Fighter’s Guild members were sent to deal with the bandit problem. The ensuring battle ended poorly for Kihani’s band. They were scattered and killed, Kihani herself among the casualties. Shara was best with a bow rather, and during the fighting she was stationed high up a tree. A well-placed arrow struck her directly in the abdomen. She lost her grip on her own weapon and it plummeted to the forest floor. Stuck bleeding up a tree, she was no help as the rest of her band was routed. 

She passed out from blood loss. Later, she woke up on the ground, many broken bones later but miraculously alive. An old Breton man stood above her, so old in fact that she groggily wondered if he was still living. He helped Shara crawl into his wagon and lay her on his bed, where she promptly passed out once again. 

Over the next year, the Breton man helped her heal. He splinted both her broken legs and dressed her wound in anti-bacterial poultices and had her drinking healing potions. He taught her to walk again. And as he did so, Shara quietly learned. 

He was a man of few words, named Anthar. With quiet words he explained each potion, poultice and splint calmly to her. He had a kind, old dog who often shared the bed with Shara as she recovered. Anthar slept on a cot, and despite Shara’s insistences, refused to trade with her and take the bed. He was a travelling healer, and stopped their wagon small settlements - Shara didn’t see another city in their entire time together. The locals recognized him and would purchase all sorts of ointments and tinctures from him, sometimes with coins but more often in trades, and if they couldn’t afford it, Anthar didn’t charge them at all.

Even once she was healed, Shara made no move to leave Anthar’s wagon, nor did he ever suggest she should. She grieved the loss of Kihani’s band, whom she saw as family, and also mourned her image of them and herself. She spent a lot of time considering the harm she had done and began living under a cloud of guilt. Shara stayed with Anthar and his dog for two more years as they travelled High Rock, learning his techniques of healing so that she could help him with his business. She came to terms with her life as a bandit as she spent time with Anthar, helping instead of harming. 

Unfortunately, Anthar’s old age caught up to him. Shara cared for him. He insisted on continuing his practice up until his very last day, so Shara helped him do so. When he passed, he did so peacefully. At the end of his life, he bid Shara to let go of her guilt and live her own life - perhaps the most personal words he had ever spoken to her. She had no reply. 

Shara hardly knew what to do with herself once he was gone. She had his wagon and his practice, but it wasn’t truly her own. She realized she had cared more for Anthar than for healing, the same way she had cared more for Kihani than banditry. Yet Anthar was wholly dedicated to his craft. She pondered his parting wish for her often, wondering what, exactly, a life of her own would look like. 

The tranquil life she had lived for over two years ended as she entered Daggerfall, feeling much the same she did in Markarth. She picked up jobs of all kinds except fighting. The idea of once again having conflict with another person put her stomach in knots, and Anthar came to mind. She couldn’t go back to her old ways ever again, yet she slowly woke up from the dream that was her time with Anthar. She realized what Anthar meant about ‘living,’ as it seemed all the life in her had been sucked out. Determined to regain it, she pushed herself into a positive attitude and has been trying to live in a way which would make Anthar proud. 

Her most recent endeavour is work as a sailor on merchant ships, and most recently docked in Woodhearth. [hr][img]https://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjIwLmZmZmZmZi5VR1Z5YzI5dVlXeHBkSGssLjAAAA,,/six-feet-under.regular.png[/img]
Shara, first and foremost, has strong personal beliefs. She doesn't quite believe in fate, but holds that things happen the way they are meant to in the end, and for the better. Opportunities are presented in order for her to take them, so she rarely passes one by and rushes to look for them at every turn. She swore off ever fighting with another person, right down to arm wrestling, and believes that she should end all conflicts without violence. She believes that most people are good at their core, even if not always towards her. She never holds others to her own beliefs, but will happily discuss them. Ultimately Shara still loves to live in a communal way and shares what is hers with others without a second thought. At her core, she wishes for acceptance. Yet, she also believes, thanks to Anthar, in living one's life to the fullest, which is part of why she is always looking to try new things and take risky chances. 

The only activity she truly loves is running and climbing. She loves to be athletic and to use her body to its fullest ability, simply for fun. She has never had a passion for much else, not healing nor blacksmithing nor even hunting, though she enjoys all of those things as well. She's very much a jack of all trades and master of none, as she picks up as many skills as she can capably but never excels. She is very fond of dogs, as they remind her of Anthar and her time there. [hr][img]https://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjIyLmZmZmZmZi5UV2x6WXcsLC4wAAAAAA,,/six-feet-under.regular.png[/img]
[b]Possessions[/b]
» Backpack, a few pairs of travelling clothes, sturdy leather boots
» Waterskin, flask, coinpurse with her most recent pay in it [~78]
» A basic sort of 'first aid kit' with some herbs, bandages, tincture ingredients
» Bedroll, blanket, basic gear for sleeping rough 

[b]Biggest Regret[/b]: Her biggest regret is allowing herself and Kihani's band to fall into banditry. She wishes she had thought about it, and actually realized the impact of their actions sooner so that she could have spoken up. 

[b]Shara's Goal[/b]: Shara's goal is to find 'her own life' as Anthar bid her.

[b]Skills[/b]
[i]Moderately Proficient:[/i]
» Alchemy [Healing-related only]
» Archery
» Acrobatics/Athletics
» Blacksmithing
» Hand-to-Hand

[i]Somewhat Proficient:[/i]
» One-Handed Blade[/hider]