Sel'ma
Sel'ma is a sev'ryn herbalist bonded with a crow familiar. She lives alone in a tent in the forest of Desnind.
During ten arcs she travelled through a big part of the world and visited many foreign cities. She has lots of memories and experiences from this period of time in her past. She is fluent in common due to all the arcs she spent abroad.
When she had found her familiar she returned to Desnind, to settle down and live a calm life. However, rumor had it her aging father Cai'meth, a sev’ryn with a feral mind, is getting more dangerous.
Inspired by this sad case in her own family, Sel’ma decided to try to develop a new herbal treatment she hopes will serve to slow down the mental transformation of feral sev’ryn. It may be too late for her father, but perhaps it will be possible to help others. Driven by this goal, Sel’ma works on diligently and is set on doing this, whatever it takes.
Short overview of Sel'm facts in the spoiler
During ten arcs she travelled through a big part of the world and visited many foreign cities. She has lots of memories and experiences from this period of time in her past. She is fluent in common due to all the arcs she spent abroad.
When she had found her familiar she returned to Desnind, to settle down and live a calm life. However, rumor had it her aging father Cai'meth, a sev’ryn with a feral mind, is getting more dangerous.
Inspired by this sad case in her own family, Sel’ma decided to try to develop a new herbal treatment she hopes will serve to slow down the mental transformation of feral sev’ryn. It may be too late for her father, but perhaps it will be possible to help others. Driven by this goal, Sel’ma works on diligently and is set on doing this, whatever it takes.
Short overview of Sel'm facts in the spoiler
► Show Spoiler
Name: Sel’ma
Age: 25 Arcs, will be 26 as of 1 Ymiden 716.
Race: Sev’ryn
Date of Birth: Trial 1 of Ymiden, Arc 691
Racial abilities: Highly spiritual and has a spiritual familiar animal; a category one familiar in crow form,Trausti
Crow properties: Creativity, audacity, trickster, magic, life
Sleepmelding ability: Can fall in deep sleep, meld her spirit with Trausti and fly in crow shape. This isn't physical shapeshifting but a kind of out of body ability; her physical body never shifts, it's left behind. The familiar is a part of her own mind and it can normally only be seen by herself, as a translucent spirit. But when she sleepmelds with it, the familiar also becomes visible to other people. If it's harmed, her sleeping body will also be harmed, and vice versa.
Height: 5’8’’ (around 170 cm)
Build: Medium slender, physically fit nature and outdoors lifer
Skin: "Permanently tanned" color
Hair: Dark, long
Face: Oval
Cheekbones: High
Eyes: Brown
Nose: Straight
Mouth: Medium size
Factions Joined: The Order of The Adunih
Languages Spoken: Xanthea and Common
Spiritual Familiar
Familiar: Trausti; her bonded spiritual crow
Familiar mark: A crow-shaped pigment blotch on the back of Sel’ma’s right shoulder, the size of a hand
Age: 25 Arcs, will be 26 as of 1 Ymiden 716.
Race: Sev’ryn
Date of Birth: Trial 1 of Ymiden, Arc 691
Racial abilities: Highly spiritual and has a spiritual familiar animal; a category one familiar in crow form,Trausti
Crow properties: Creativity, audacity, trickster, magic, life
Sleepmelding ability: Can fall in deep sleep, meld her spirit with Trausti and fly in crow shape. This isn't physical shapeshifting but a kind of out of body ability; her physical body never shifts, it's left behind. The familiar is a part of her own mind and it can normally only be seen by herself, as a translucent spirit. But when she sleepmelds with it, the familiar also becomes visible to other people. If it's harmed, her sleeping body will also be harmed, and vice versa.
Height: 5’8’’ (around 170 cm)
Build: Medium slender, physically fit nature and outdoors lifer
Skin: "Permanently tanned" color
Hair: Dark, long
Face: Oval
Cheekbones: High
Eyes: Brown
Nose: Straight
Mouth: Medium size
Factions Joined: The Order of The Adunih
Languages Spoken: Xanthea and Common
Spiritual Familiar
Familiar: Trausti; her bonded spiritual crow
Familiar mark: A crow-shaped pigment blotch on the back of Sel’ma’s right shoulder, the size of a hand
Appearance
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General
With her 5’8’’ Sel’ma is a tall woman, for sev’ryn standards. Her tanned skin and long dark hair are typical sev’ryn colors. Her build is medium slender. She has been active in an everyday natural way all her life, and as a consequence she is physically fit.
Clothing
The clothes Sel’ma wears can vary greatly, depending on what is practical, and they can be of male or female cut. When she is in Desnind she mostly wears sev’ryn skin clothes. But, like many other sev’ryn, Sel’ma is flexible and adaptable and she has often found it best to pick up local customs during her long journeys. When she is in other cities she looks not like a “wild native” but as a “civilized savage” who has taken on the style of her environment and blends in pretty well. By some people, she may sometimes be seen as exotic.
Tattoo’s and marks
She sports the usual sev’ryn tree tattoo all sev’ryn are given when they are small children. In her case it can be found on the back of her right hand. After 24 arcs the color has gone slightly bluish and at a quick glance it may look like a multitude of superficial blood vessels branching out from the wrist toward the base of the fingers.
On the back of her right shoulder there’s a familiar mark. It looks like an abstractly crow-shaped darker pigment blotch. It bears no likeness to a tattoo, but looks like a shadow on her skin.
Voice
She has a husky, somewhat raspy, alto voice and although she is fluent in common after her many years of travelling, a lingering xanthea intonation can be recognized by those who have heard the sev’ryn language before. She isn’t a loud person, but her quite deep voice use to be easily heard anyways and can sometimes surprise people. It can easily pass as a light male voice if needed.
Movements
Sel’ma moves a bit differently depending on which kind of clothes she is wearing and what she is doing. But whether she walks with shorter steps or long strides, her movements always looks very well-coordinated and have a balanced accuracy that speaks of her spiritual awareness. Due to her upbringing, with outdoors life where being good at stealth, running and dodge were important, she moves efficiently and silently and can be both fast and agile when it’s needed.
General demeanor
Her general demeanor in normal situations is calm, self-assured in a relaxed way, soft and balanced; the way you might expect from a person who is spiritually developed. Being sev’ryn she feels no greed and will not seek material property and advantages for the sake of it. She is convinced those are mundane things of no great value.
In case she finds herself in a dangerous situation or under pressure she will in first hand try to reason with people and calm them down. If they can’t be reasoned with, Sel’ma will try to leave and avoid violence. But, if this isn’t possible, and if she or people she feels compelled to side with are attacked, she will defend herself or them. She doesn’t seek violence, but considers it nature’s law that most of its beings, including, will defend themselves if they are cornered and have no other option.
In bigger conflicts, war and battle situations, or disaster situations, she will be composed and brave, as her spiritual view on life includes death and reincarnation. She will always try to avoid violence if possible though, and she will try to do her best to support and help people in need of medical care or spiritual coaching. For good and for bad, the latter can include wounded enemies as well.
Crow Familiar
Her spiritual familiar animal, the crow shaped Trausti is always there, but invisible to all people bar Sel’ma herself. She perceives it as sitting on her right shoulder. She is past the phase when the newly bonded sev’ryn can start to speak aloud with the familiar. But although the communication with the familiar is silent, and although Trausti can’t be seen, the kind of people who are very observant may notice that Sel’ma tends to look to her right side. This is sometimes just a glance, only her gaze moving, but other times she may turn her head a bit, when she’s about to answer a complicated question or when she’s lost in her thoughts.
With her 5’8’’ Sel’ma is a tall woman, for sev’ryn standards. Her tanned skin and long dark hair are typical sev’ryn colors. Her build is medium slender. She has been active in an everyday natural way all her life, and as a consequence she is physically fit.
Clothing
The clothes Sel’ma wears can vary greatly, depending on what is practical, and they can be of male or female cut. When she is in Desnind she mostly wears sev’ryn skin clothes. But, like many other sev’ryn, Sel’ma is flexible and adaptable and she has often found it best to pick up local customs during her long journeys. When she is in other cities she looks not like a “wild native” but as a “civilized savage” who has taken on the style of her environment and blends in pretty well. By some people, she may sometimes be seen as exotic.
Tattoo’s and marks
She sports the usual sev’ryn tree tattoo all sev’ryn are given when they are small children. In her case it can be found on the back of her right hand. After 24 arcs the color has gone slightly bluish and at a quick glance it may look like a multitude of superficial blood vessels branching out from the wrist toward the base of the fingers.
On the back of her right shoulder there’s a familiar mark. It looks like an abstractly crow-shaped darker pigment blotch. It bears no likeness to a tattoo, but looks like a shadow on her skin.
Voice
She has a husky, somewhat raspy, alto voice and although she is fluent in common after her many years of travelling, a lingering xanthea intonation can be recognized by those who have heard the sev’ryn language before. She isn’t a loud person, but her quite deep voice use to be easily heard anyways and can sometimes surprise people. It can easily pass as a light male voice if needed.
Movements
Sel’ma moves a bit differently depending on which kind of clothes she is wearing and what she is doing. But whether she walks with shorter steps or long strides, her movements always looks very well-coordinated and have a balanced accuracy that speaks of her spiritual awareness. Due to her upbringing, with outdoors life where being good at stealth, running and dodge were important, she moves efficiently and silently and can be both fast and agile when it’s needed.
General demeanor
Her general demeanor in normal situations is calm, self-assured in a relaxed way, soft and balanced; the way you might expect from a person who is spiritually developed. Being sev’ryn she feels no greed and will not seek material property and advantages for the sake of it. She is convinced those are mundane things of no great value.
In case she finds herself in a dangerous situation or under pressure she will in first hand try to reason with people and calm them down. If they can’t be reasoned with, Sel’ma will try to leave and avoid violence. But, if this isn’t possible, and if she or people she feels compelled to side with are attacked, she will defend herself or them. She doesn’t seek violence, but considers it nature’s law that most of its beings, including, will defend themselves if they are cornered and have no other option.
In bigger conflicts, war and battle situations, or disaster situations, she will be composed and brave, as her spiritual view on life includes death and reincarnation. She will always try to avoid violence if possible though, and she will try to do her best to support and help people in need of medical care or spiritual coaching. For good and for bad, the latter can include wounded enemies as well.
Crow Familiar
Her spiritual familiar animal, the crow shaped Trausti is always there, but invisible to all people bar Sel’ma herself. She perceives it as sitting on her right shoulder. She is past the phase when the newly bonded sev’ryn can start to speak aloud with the familiar. But although the communication with the familiar is silent, and although Trausti can’t be seen, the kind of people who are very observant may notice that Sel’ma tends to look to her right side. This is sometimes just a glance, only her gaze moving, but other times she may turn her head a bit, when she’s about to answer a complicated question or when she’s lost in her thoughts.
Personality
STRENGTHS
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Spiritual and Aligned with Moseke. Like all sev’ryn Sel’ma has a mental disposition for spirituality, development of higher awareness and higher perspective. She believes in reincarnation, respects nature and it’s balance and is interested in the intrinsic properties of nature, earth, stone and life. She cultivates knowledge and understanding about animals, herbs, plants and minerals for it’s own sake and for medical ends.
Never alone. She’s more than average “whole” through the bond. She and her familiar have each other and this means Sel’ma is never feeling alone. This gives her great stamina and endurance. She can continue relentlessly and patiently for a long time with things she is set on, and she is resistant to psychological effects of isolation and silence.
Faithful friend. The bond makes her more than average independent. She doesn’t need other people for the sake of it. This means that when she forms friendships with others, it’s always due to truly liking and caring for them. It’s true friendship, it’s never just a desire to get company or get something else. There is no emotional bartering, no keeping track records of who owes who. Friendship and love is given without seeking anything in return. She will also stand by her friends not only when they are doing right, but also when they have derailed.
Crow shape. She can fall into a sleep that allows her spirit to meld with the familiar animals form. When her spirit melded with the familiar’s form she can control it and do the things the animal is able to do; in her case it means she can fly as a crow when sleepmelded, observe things from high positions, scout nature from air for useful herbs and plants, pick up and bring home small items a crow is able to carry, intercept messenger doves, fly away from treats, hide in trees, fight small beings, and in utter emergency team up with other crows to a flock in order to fight against bigger beings. When melded, her crow shape also becomes visible to other people and she can interact with them.
Enhanced creativity. The animal familiar crow brings creativity and the ability to see and pursue new possibilities that can cause minor or major changes to herself, to situations, to knowledge, to crafted things. Sel’ma is able to think if new ways and try new approaches. This can sometimes lead to quick smaller changes, and if her actions coincide with other development in the world, there’s a chance to affect other people and the course of events in the long run.
Audacity. Sel’ma is brave and doesn’t chicken out when faced with danger. This in combination with her spiritual view on life and higher perspective maker her a good and reliable medic in battles and disasters, prone to do what needs to be done to save and treat people. It also makes her dare to go for high risk strategies and carry on with them when she thinks it’s needed.
Never alone. She’s more than average “whole” through the bond. She and her familiar have each other and this means Sel’ma is never feeling alone. This gives her great stamina and endurance. She can continue relentlessly and patiently for a long time with things she is set on, and she is resistant to psychological effects of isolation and silence.
Faithful friend. The bond makes her more than average independent. She doesn’t need other people for the sake of it. This means that when she forms friendships with others, it’s always due to truly liking and caring for them. It’s true friendship, it’s never just a desire to get company or get something else. There is no emotional bartering, no keeping track records of who owes who. Friendship and love is given without seeking anything in return. She will also stand by her friends not only when they are doing right, but also when they have derailed.
Crow shape. She can fall into a sleep that allows her spirit to meld with the familiar animals form. When her spirit melded with the familiar’s form she can control it and do the things the animal is able to do; in her case it means she can fly as a crow when sleepmelded, observe things from high positions, scout nature from air for useful herbs and plants, pick up and bring home small items a crow is able to carry, intercept messenger doves, fly away from treats, hide in trees, fight small beings, and in utter emergency team up with other crows to a flock in order to fight against bigger beings. When melded, her crow shape also becomes visible to other people and she can interact with them.
Enhanced creativity. The animal familiar crow brings creativity and the ability to see and pursue new possibilities that can cause minor or major changes to herself, to situations, to knowledge, to crafted things. Sel’ma is able to think if new ways and try new approaches. This can sometimes lead to quick smaller changes, and if her actions coincide with other development in the world, there’s a chance to affect other people and the course of events in the long run.
Audacity. Sel’ma is brave and doesn’t chicken out when faced with danger. This in combination with her spiritual view on life and higher perspective maker her a good and reliable medic in battles and disasters, prone to do what needs to be done to save and treat people. It also makes her dare to go for high risk strategies and carry on with them when she thinks it’s needed.
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Vulnerable for loss of the animal familiar. Loss of the familiar has extensive consequences for a sev’ryn. If the bonded's familiar dies, then the one that is bonded to the familiar feels that death deep within themselves. The bonded will then retreat deep within and rarely do they ever come out of their stupor, for they have lost a half of themselves which is incredibly painful.
Can come as a stupid native full of romantic rubbish, to people who aren’t sev’ryn. Things like being spiritual, aligned with Moseke, believing in reincarnation, caring about the harmony with nature and not aiming to profit much, can be seen as naïve and gullible by people with totally other values and dispositions. Sel’ma risks being thought of as a fool or as easy prey for people with bad intentions, with what this can entail.
Risk for developing “Animal Soul”. Those sev’ryn who spends most of their time with their spiritual animal familiar can eventually take on the traits of the familiar and become more animal of mind than human. Developing this state of mind is a long and slow process. The early sings of it may go unnoticed these sev’ryn themselves as well as other people, and until it’s a fact and starts to manifest visibly, which is often in the later part of life. Sel’ma would rather be alone with Trausti than spend time with people just for superficial chitchat about nothing. There’s no immediate risk for “animal soul” but she aware of the risk and needs to be cautious.
Unconditional friendship can lead to dangers or exploitation. Sel’ma can be drawn into events and situations that are dangerous and harmful due to standing by her friends. Her unconditional friendship, love and support can also be exploited by other people, or it can just take a lot of energy and time without anybody actively exploiting it, due to Sel’ma on her own accord giving them help and attention they haven’t asked for. If coming of as a busybody this can also lead to conflicts.
The dangers of Crow Shape. The sleepmelding entails dangers and risks. When sleepmelding, her own body is asleep and her spirit is away, and if unprotected the body can be harmed. At same time, the familiar is visible and can be harmed too. And if something injures her body, (people, animals, natural phenomena) the familiar will be injured too, and vice versa.
Audacity. The downside to courage is that’s she is prone to take risks and this in turn means high exposition to dangers.
Enhanced creativity used in risky or questionable ways. Unfortunately this isn’t only about safe things as the crow also brings audacity and creativity and be used in risky ways in combination with arcana, and it can be used the trickster way, for manipulation and for pranks.
Can come as a stupid native full of romantic rubbish, to people who aren’t sev’ryn. Things like being spiritual, aligned with Moseke, believing in reincarnation, caring about the harmony with nature and not aiming to profit much, can be seen as naïve and gullible by people with totally other values and dispositions. Sel’ma risks being thought of as a fool or as easy prey for people with bad intentions, with what this can entail.
Risk for developing “Animal Soul”. Those sev’ryn who spends most of their time with their spiritual animal familiar can eventually take on the traits of the familiar and become more animal of mind than human. Developing this state of mind is a long and slow process. The early sings of it may go unnoticed these sev’ryn themselves as well as other people, and until it’s a fact and starts to manifest visibly, which is often in the later part of life. Sel’ma would rather be alone with Trausti than spend time with people just for superficial chitchat about nothing. There’s no immediate risk for “animal soul” but she aware of the risk and needs to be cautious.
Unconditional friendship can lead to dangers or exploitation. Sel’ma can be drawn into events and situations that are dangerous and harmful due to standing by her friends. Her unconditional friendship, love and support can also be exploited by other people, or it can just take a lot of energy and time without anybody actively exploiting it, due to Sel’ma on her own accord giving them help and attention they haven’t asked for. If coming of as a busybody this can also lead to conflicts.
The dangers of Crow Shape. The sleepmelding entails dangers and risks. When sleepmelding, her own body is asleep and her spirit is away, and if unprotected the body can be harmed. At same time, the familiar is visible and can be harmed too. And if something injures her body, (people, animals, natural phenomena) the familiar will be injured too, and vice versa.
Audacity. The downside to courage is that’s she is prone to take risks and this in turn means high exposition to dangers.
Enhanced creativity used in risky or questionable ways. Unfortunately this isn’t only about safe things as the crow also brings audacity and creativity and be used in risky ways in combination with arcana, and it can be used the trickster way, for manipulation and for pranks.
History
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Sel’ma was born in Desnind, to Clea’rae and Cai’meth. After a couple of years, when Sel’ma was still very small, her father Cai’meth Black Panther “went animal” and moved to the forest. From now on, Clea’rae raised their little daughter alone. Being sev’ryn she stayed in touch with her derailed partner too, and cared for him despite his problems, but he stayed stuck in his difficult mental state. Sel’ma wouldn’t meet her father again until she was much older.
As a small sev’ryn, Little Sel’ma learnt the basics about the sev’ryn culture. Her basic values were formed during these early years . She listened to the myths and legends of her people and of Idalos and. She learnt the importance of spiritual development and wisdom and to not strive for and desire things she don’t really lack. She also learnt about her people’s belief in reincarnation and how they believe that spiritual development will eventually lead to a better world. She learnt that true friendship and love should be free from conditions and to care for other people. She also learnt to respect nature and live in harmony with nature.
In particular she learnt about herbs and plants and their properties. Her studies in botany were very practical and in the start they were done in gardens in the city. It included how to identify them and the best way to gather them, treat them and store them. She investigated a great variety of plants in order to practice at this. Eventually she was introduced to the craft named herbalism, and started to learn how to make salves, herbal medicines, tonics and oils from plant extracts.
Her first language was xanthea. But from the sev’ryn who had travelled outside of Desnind, she also started to learn common at a basic level. She would continue to learn more common during her whole childhood and youth. Her mother considered it wise to be prepared in case Sel’ma would need to travel in the future.
Sel’ma continued to learn more about how to find the raw materials for the herbalism. Now when she was a little older, she spent much time foraging in nature, for a start under guidance of a grown up sev’ryn, later together with groups of children who were sent out to forage. She gathered herbs and other plants, roots, wild vegetables, fruits, nuts, berries and mushrooms. When she was sure she had found the right plants, she picked and harvested them in a sound and careful way. She always left enough of the plants to ensure regrowth, and she followed the sev’ryn custom of honoring nature and saying thanks for the things it gave her.
Most wild animals were shy beings, and going in groups and being cautious went a long way for being safe in nature. But for safety’s sake, Sel’ma trained a lot at stealthing in nature. She pretended that she was an animal and tried to stealth soundlessly. For a start it was hard to not make mistakes and reveal herself at once. But as the children had fun playing stealth a lot, Sel’ma repeated it very many times, and she eventually became much better at it.
The children also practiced running. It was important for a child to be able to get away from nature’s dangers, and the best way for the small sev’ryn to save themselves were of course to run. The children didn’t think of it as training of course. They were playing, racing each others. Sel’ma ran as fast as she could when they were playing this way, and tried her best to be first to the goal. She put in effort to run with as long steps as she could, and move as effortlessly as she was able, the way she had been thought. As soon as she went somewhere it was possible to run instead of walking, she ran. And so running became a natural part of her life, and something she did without thinking.
It was the same with dodging. If running away from some animal would fail, it was important to know how to dodge and try to avoid being harmed, until grown up hunters could intervene and protect the child. So Sel’ma trained dodging. This too was a game the children played with each other, and nothing they thought of as training. Selma practiced dodging every day, as it was fun to play.
When Sel’ma was nearer to grown up age, some of her friends started to meet and bond with their familiar animals. Sel’ma expected this to happen to her too, and hoped for a familiar. But time passed and she didn’t meet one. Eventually this became a pressure on her. She started to wonder if there was something wrong with her. She also started to fear that she might be one of those who had to leave Desnind and travel in the world outside to find her familiar. This didn’t appeal to her one bit. She wanted to stay at home.
Life went on a usual. Sel’ma gathered herbs and worked at herbalism, and she was still running, stealthing and dodging a great deal even if she wasn’t playing anymore. Now she mostly did it out of restlessness and because she needed to work off the pressure she often felt. Physical activity made her feel better and when she was running at high speed, absorbed in the movement, she could forget her troubles.
But as no familiar showed up, she knew travelling could become necessary. Reluctantly, she started to seek out sev’ryn with traveler experience and ask for advice. She learnt more about the world outside. Some had experienced wonderful adventures. Others mostly spoke about how she needed to steel herself for endless hardships, suffering and endurance.
At the very beginning of her life as young adult, Sel’ma said her farewells and left to search for her familiar. Working her way through the world with the kind of jobs she was able to get, she traveled by ships and with caravans, to many foreign places. Starting out as simple kitchen aide she eventually advanced to ship's cook and in her capacity as herbalist she could sometimes go as medic, and there were other things she took on, depending on what was available on the route she wanted to take. For around ten arcs she traveled like this, an in the process she became fluent in common and learnt a lot about other cultures and peoples in Idalos.
Although she hadn't found her familiar, she eventually started to experience visions, dreams, and other brief spiritual instances where she vaguely see, hear, feel, and think with her familiar to be. This helped her to keep up hope and continue the search. It made her believe she would succeed one day, and helped her find, and want to find, her familiar.
As a small sev’ryn, Little Sel’ma learnt the basics about the sev’ryn culture. Her basic values were formed during these early years . She listened to the myths and legends of her people and of Idalos and. She learnt the importance of spiritual development and wisdom and to not strive for and desire things she don’t really lack. She also learnt about her people’s belief in reincarnation and how they believe that spiritual development will eventually lead to a better world. She learnt that true friendship and love should be free from conditions and to care for other people. She also learnt to respect nature and live in harmony with nature.
In particular she learnt about herbs and plants and their properties. Her studies in botany were very practical and in the start they were done in gardens in the city. It included how to identify them and the best way to gather them, treat them and store them. She investigated a great variety of plants in order to practice at this. Eventually she was introduced to the craft named herbalism, and started to learn how to make salves, herbal medicines, tonics and oils from plant extracts.
Her first language was xanthea. But from the sev’ryn who had travelled outside of Desnind, she also started to learn common at a basic level. She would continue to learn more common during her whole childhood and youth. Her mother considered it wise to be prepared in case Sel’ma would need to travel in the future.
Sel’ma continued to learn more about how to find the raw materials for the herbalism. Now when she was a little older, she spent much time foraging in nature, for a start under guidance of a grown up sev’ryn, later together with groups of children who were sent out to forage. She gathered herbs and other plants, roots, wild vegetables, fruits, nuts, berries and mushrooms. When she was sure she had found the right plants, she picked and harvested them in a sound and careful way. She always left enough of the plants to ensure regrowth, and she followed the sev’ryn custom of honoring nature and saying thanks for the things it gave her.
Most wild animals were shy beings, and going in groups and being cautious went a long way for being safe in nature. But for safety’s sake, Sel’ma trained a lot at stealthing in nature. She pretended that she was an animal and tried to stealth soundlessly. For a start it was hard to not make mistakes and reveal herself at once. But as the children had fun playing stealth a lot, Sel’ma repeated it very many times, and she eventually became much better at it.
The children also practiced running. It was important for a child to be able to get away from nature’s dangers, and the best way for the small sev’ryn to save themselves were of course to run. The children didn’t think of it as training of course. They were playing, racing each others. Sel’ma ran as fast as she could when they were playing this way, and tried her best to be first to the goal. She put in effort to run with as long steps as she could, and move as effortlessly as she was able, the way she had been thought. As soon as she went somewhere it was possible to run instead of walking, she ran. And so running became a natural part of her life, and something she did without thinking.
It was the same with dodging. If running away from some animal would fail, it was important to know how to dodge and try to avoid being harmed, until grown up hunters could intervene and protect the child. So Sel’ma trained dodging. This too was a game the children played with each other, and nothing they thought of as training. Selma practiced dodging every day, as it was fun to play.
When Sel’ma was nearer to grown up age, some of her friends started to meet and bond with their familiar animals. Sel’ma expected this to happen to her too, and hoped for a familiar. But time passed and she didn’t meet one. Eventually this became a pressure on her. She started to wonder if there was something wrong with her. She also started to fear that she might be one of those who had to leave Desnind and travel in the world outside to find her familiar. This didn’t appeal to her one bit. She wanted to stay at home.
Life went on a usual. Sel’ma gathered herbs and worked at herbalism, and she was still running, stealthing and dodging a great deal even if she wasn’t playing anymore. Now she mostly did it out of restlessness and because she needed to work off the pressure she often felt. Physical activity made her feel better and when she was running at high speed, absorbed in the movement, she could forget her troubles.
But as no familiar showed up, she knew travelling could become necessary. Reluctantly, she started to seek out sev’ryn with traveler experience and ask for advice. She learnt more about the world outside. Some had experienced wonderful adventures. Others mostly spoke about how she needed to steel herself for endless hardships, suffering and endurance.
At the very beginning of her life as young adult, Sel’ma said her farewells and left to search for her familiar. Working her way through the world with the kind of jobs she was able to get, she traveled by ships and with caravans, to many foreign places. Starting out as simple kitchen aide she eventually advanced to ship's cook and in her capacity as herbalist she could sometimes go as medic, and there were other things she took on, depending on what was available on the route she wanted to take. For around ten arcs she traveled like this, an in the process she became fluent in common and learnt a lot about other cultures and peoples in Idalos.
Although she hadn't found her familiar, she eventually started to experience visions, dreams, and other brief spiritual instances where she vaguely see, hear, feel, and think with her familiar to be. This helped her to keep up hope and continue the search. It made her believe she would succeed one day, and helped her find, and want to find, her familiar.
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The bonding
In Ne’haer, During Ymiden 714
There was something in the grass one evening when Sel’ma came walking with her dog, and the dog went all exited and jumped forward. Worried that it might be a snake Sel’ma held the dog back and calmed it, while she cautiously peered down into the grass. At first nothing happened. But then a small bird tried to scramble away. She could see that it was a chick, and concluded it must have fallen out from it’s nest. Looking at the crown of the tree above she saw a telltale heap of twigs; a crow’s nest.
Even if it had been possible for Sel’ma to climb the tree and put the crow chick back, she knew it wouldn’t work. The wild crows wouldn’t accept a chick that smelled of human. They might abandon the nest and if there were more chicks in it all would die. And it was obvious that the chick on the ground was too small to fly and also not able to move normally. She decided to pick it up and take it home. It was a life, however small, and just leaving it there didn’t feel like an option. Sel’ma knew fully well she was in for a lot of trouble and effort for nothing, and she got pecked at once when she caught the chick. After a somewhat troublesome walk home, she splinted the injured bird’s leg, a tricky task that required a lot of patience. She made a temporary nest for the bird in a basket and put it on a shelf out of reach for the dog. Next day she would borrow a cage.
Trial after trial passed by and Sel’ma took care of the little crow, fed it and tended to its injured leg. The small animal showed no gratitude and no affection. It was a demanding thing. It made disturbing sounds and wanted food and attention. Cleaning the cage was unpleasant, but it must be done, so Sel’ma did it. Nothing of all this offended or annoyed her and she didn’t tire of the crow or regret her decision to rehabilitate it. She wasn’t doing it for her own sake. There was nothing to get from the bird. She didn’t even think of it as a bird, but as life. This life was small, but it wasn’t insignificant, as life is never insignificant and her task was to support it; this was how she felt.
Eventually she saw the crow chick grow and get grey and black feathers until it looked like a fully grown up bird, just still a bit smaller. The leg had healed now and the bird was the age when young birds use to be ready to leave the nest. She knew it was soon time to let it out to live its own wild life. But first she had to train it so it would be able to cope.
She carried the cage outdoors and opened the door to the cage. After a little while the bird hopped out, but it stayed close to the cage and it was still trying to make her give it food. Sel’ma showed it natural food on the ground and though this wasn’t always so pleasant, it was the way nature was. It was beautiful and wonderful, but it could also be harsh and cruel. Nature was the foundation of life and all it’s magical greatness, but also the origin of death. If she had let the crow die when it was a chick, other animals would have eaten and life would have benefited from this. But now the crow lived and life benefited from this too, but it meant worms and snails and insects had to become food for the crow. Life and death. Love and cruelty. Nature held both and they were intertwined and joined with each other.
It was like a circle, she thought, where life constantly moved on, constantly changing and transforming as it progressed through its ever shifting life forms that emerged, grew and faded away, just to emerge again as something new and repeat the cycle. To her, the spiritual cycle of reincarnation mirrored the physical cycle of nature’s life and death. As sev’ryn she had always known the material world and the spiritual dimension were connected, but for a start she had known it in the way children know what they have been told. True insight had grown later, silently, one small step at the time, and sometimes without her even noticing it. Thorough the arcs of travelling she had been given, the experiences and people she had run into had transformed her. Slowly she had changed, slowly as one of all those invisible processes in nature, on it’s endless and circular journey, slowly as water makes marks in stone and the waves of the sea makes grains of sand polish the irregular stones on a shore to soft round pebbles.
She started to put the bird in bushes and then on low tree branches, and so the bird learnt to fly. It went further and further away on it’s excursions in the world. It didn’t go into the cage anymore, but it was still around for a while. But there came a trial when Sel’ma watched the bird fly away until all she cold see was a small dark speck on the sky. Somehow she felt sure it was gone for good and would from now on be only a memory. The crow had returned to nature, where it belonged, and it had no thanks to give her for this. It wasn’t grateful. It wasn’t ungrateful either. It was life. Sel’ma felt her soul glow with a great and undemanding love of life and nature, and she was happy and content that she had been allowed to be of use.
But when her rehabilitated crow had disappeared out of sight and was gone, what looked like the ghost of a crow manifested in the air instead. But although it looked like a bird, it wasn’t a bird. It was a spiritual familiar in crow form. It was otherworldly. It wasn’t material.
The familiar’s form was clearly visible. Though it was translucent, the color of it’s feathers was that of a natural crows form. It looked like the pale, translucent black and grey shadow of a crow, and its eyes were a neutral grey. Sel’ma knew at once that this was her familiar, the way sev’ryn know this when their familiars appear. She felt it deep within, with her spiritual knowledge and recognition of her other half.
Ten arcs ago she might have felt it as an achievement, something she had earned by putting in hard work and effort and thus something to feel proud of and think of as her own result. She might have thought of the familiar as a reward for herself being diligent. But it was very long time since Sel’ma had thought that way about spiritual development. It wasn’t an achievement done by her. It was a gift granted to the sev’ryn, who had been created to be this way. Like all other beings she simply fulfilled what she was meant to be. Fish swim in the oceans, birds fly under the sky, plants grow in the earth and sev’ryn are gifted with spirituality. She had come to think of it this way; nothing to worry about, not an achievement to strive for, but a gift to accept.
So Sel’ma wanted to complete the bond, as this was how Moseke had made the sev’ryn to be. Their familiars entered the world when the intended sev’ryn was born. They started out as two separate parts of same soul, meant to be joined by a future spiritual bond.
She reached out to the familiar. It came forth to meld with her. For a moment the sensation of a bright light overwhelmed her and seemed to fill the whole world, and with this came the feeling of being whole, like a missing part of herself had finally been added to the unfinished being she had been before.
In this moment, Sel’ma knew that her familiar found that she had remained true to herself throughout the quest. The familiar, as the spiritual being it was, had entered the world when she was born, and it had followed her development all the time and noticed all those small steps forward during many long arcs, that together constituted her progress to higher spirituality. She had seemed promising, but as familiars use to do, it had not sought her out prematurely; she had needed to prove herself and gain its trust. It had given her a quest that had taken long time to complete.
For the first time Sel’ma understood, through the familiar’s telepathic communication, that the major part of the quest had actually been her long journey that had started ten arcs ago. This major part of the quest had been about testing if she was constant, enduring and firm upon the path she had taken, despite how the arcs passed by without finding what she wanted. The crow familiar was strong and would only bond if the intended sev’ryn was worthy. Would she be able to stay on a path where she found no rewards, and keep to her goals in the long haul ? And would she reach sufficient spiritual development, or would she lose heart? The familiar had wanted to find out and it had found ten arcs a suitable period of time to test her.
This was why her search had lasted for so long time. Sel’ma had shown that she was strong too, and didn’t give up when things looked bleak. She had always stayed true to her beliefs in the value of spirituality and nature and acted accordingly. For ten arcs, her spiritual development had progressed and the immaturity and unwitting self-centeredness of her youth had been ground off. And the final part of the quest, had been the crow chick. The familiar had thought her ready, but wanted a last test. It had wanted to see if she would respect life even in such a small and seemingly insignificant form and support it for life’s own sake, without seeking anything in return for herself.
Sel’ma and the familiar had now completed the bond every sev’ryn needed to become a whole person. They were now both one spirit. The familiar’s eyes had shifted color from neutral grey to a kind of translucent golden-green color; it held faint shades of gold, but the impression was more green than golden. It reminded Sel’ma of the atmosphere of a forest, where sunlight has found it’s way through the foliage of trees down to the ground with all its plants and animal life. To Sel’ma the green color was something good. She associated it with a forest, sheltering trees, shadow and coolness on hot days, hidden places where rare plants grew, narrow paths in the greenery. It was the color of nature itself, mysterious, magic and green.
The familiar was herself. They were one soul. Sel’ma reached out and touched the spiritual crow and to her touch it felt just like the crow she had come there to let out into the wild. She couldn’t see the mark that had spread on the back of her right shoulder, but she knew it was there and she felt it’s presence. It was the size of a hand, and looked like a crow shaped shadow of darker brown pigment on her tanned skin. The familiar told her this in her mind, as they were linked telepathically. What the familiar told her came to her as a feeling, a knowledge and insight from within. Thus she knew that although the familiar’s and she was one, the part of her that was the familiar still had a name of its own too, and it was Trausti. By this name it could from now on be called upon to manifest before her when she needed it.