Akelda Le Sarkaz
Countess Akelda Le Sarkaz is one of the founders of Dawngate. The daughter of a Martellan Count, she brings grace and nobility that would otherwise be lacking from the New World.
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| birth_date = 974/06/06 <!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people supply only the year with {{Birth year and age|YYYY}} unless the exact date is already widely published, as per [[WP:DOB]]. For people who have died, use {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}}. -->
| birth_place = Les Portes du Soleil
| death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (DEATH date then BIRTH date) -->
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| nationality = Dawngate, Martellan <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
| other_names =
| occupation = Countess of Dawngate
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Appearance
Akelda Le Sarkaz is a female Tiefling, five feet and seven inches tall. She has curly grey hair that reaches just past her shoulders, and is pale skinned. Atop her head is a pair of asymmetric, straight obsidian horns, one bigger than the other, marking her as a Tiefling. Adorning her face are a pair of jewel like crimson eyes, unnerving to look at due to the apparent lack of a pupil and oversized iris. From her lower back sprouts a meaty tail, a good four inches thick at the base and tapering down a total of four feet to a finger like tip. This tail has a slick black colouration and responds to Akelda’s emotions, twisting around her leg when anxious, or slamming when angry.
She has a preference for dark clothes, and has grown fond of the Kavaca garments available in the New World.
Background
Akelda Le Sarkaz was born as the first daughter of a middle ranked noble family in Martell. Unfortunately, Akelda was born with the tail and horns that identified her as being marked by evil; a Tiefling. As she grew to maturity she had a lonely childhood, ostracized by her peers for her demonic affliction. A few years before she reached marriageable age she was sent off to a magical enclave to train in the arcane arts. This was likely an attempt to keep her out of the line of succession of the family, though it also gave her an opportunity. Akelda buried herself in her studies, as if it could replace the human contact she had lacked, and soon enough became an established Wizard. After completing her studies she returned to her family, serving them magically for a few years, but found that any sympathy they had held for the child was gone now that she was a young woman. Any support they gave was purely for her magical talents, and even that was scarce.
Those who know Akelda would describe her as harsh, forged by the pressures of her heritage and rejection of the Voudre establishment for their disapproval of her race. Those few who know her better would describe her as a passionate individual who struggles to express herself, and a staunch ally for those she trusts.
Eventually, whilst working, Akelda found the expedition to the rumoured New World, and wanting to escape her current life she decided to embark upon it. By her magical virtues and noble name she managed to get a place on one of the nicer ships, and avoid the Stormchaser, and instead got passage on the Wavedancer, though it would later turn out that this was for the worst.
Akelda found out the hard way that a noble name doesn’t hold much weight away from civilization. Her crew mates didn’t appreciate having a Tiefling among there midst, and even Akelda’s magic wasn’t enough to redeem her in their eyes. Nearly a year into the voyage a great storm hit, causing widespread devastation and ruining much of the ship’s supplies. This caused attitudes to rapidly deteriorate, and as tensions rose, those not in a larger group were singled out. For Akelda, this culminated in her being bound up, thrown into a barrel, and chucked overboard.
After days of drifting, on both the sea and in and out of consciousness, Akelda found herself on an unknown shore. Dehydrated as she was she made her way inland, into some strange reddish-purple foliage in search of water, and after some trekking found a small river to collapse beside. Only once her thirst had been slaked did she notice the pain she was in, as a barrel is not the kindest way to travel the high seas.
Several more days passed, and Akelda had continued inland, following the river upstream, scrounging whatever food she could from fruits and berries that looked edible, but had not had much luck with the unfamiliar flora. Exhausted, starved, and broken, she collapsed at a clearing in next to a shallow and wide stretch of river. Had she been more aware at the time, she would have noticed the signs of habitation: the foliage beaten back, rocks moved out of the way, a path lightly trodden through here. Akelda woke to find herself surrounded by a group of people, clad in earthen clothes and primitive armour that looked… waxy? While Akelda didn’t understand the language they were speaking, they gave her some kind of dried meat, and tended to her wounds. Once she had regained enough strength they brought her along the path, and after a day of slow walking, due to the weakened Sarkaz, reached a settlement. The settlement consisted of many stone based buildings, with the outside made of the same waxy material the armour had been made of, all clustered around a central tower, a few stories high. Akelda was brought into the tower, where she stayed was given a room to stay.
During this time she got acquainted with her savours, her sharp mind picking up the new language relatively quickly. They were a tribe that called themselves the Janata, and this was one of their towns, called Gava. They were seemingly quite primitive compared to the civilisation Akelda left behind, having only the most rudimentary of agriculture and pastoralism. The waxy material turned out to be the shells of a local crab like creature, which could be taken, boiled, and laminated into a strong but lightweight material, and this made up the bulk of the tribes craft and construction, with no signs of metalworking, and the tribe prohibiting the use of wood.
After recovering Akelda helped out around Gava, being granted a room in the tower, and overall has been treated quite well, but with the insistence that she stay within the inner circle of the town. This time has been used by Akelda to gain familiarity with the local environment, so as to allow her the ability to survive on her own, as well as to learn the local language and put together a basic set of adventuring supplies.
After five months she encountered the rest of the founding party, and set off adventuring with them.
