Nynette Starleaf

Personal Information

Born: 605 ATA  Presumed Dead: 624 ATA

Spouse: None

Children: None

Occupation: Was a well-trusted household servant to Rowena Mikin in West Bluff Keep and also a personal attendant to the Duchess when on many outings

Description

Nynette is a young woman, barely into her twenties, and has the desirably ivory skin, soft form, and dainty stature. She is both strong and womanly youth simultaneously. Her eyes are light, doe brown, and lips gently smile with the palest of pinks. Her hair is copper-toned and used to be worn lengthily to her waist. As of the year 624 her features were altered slightly by the fires that trapped her within the keep as it was consumed. Much of her hair would’ve been burnt off, so its length – while having regrown – would probably be shoulder-length now. Her skin likewise would bear scars of burning and blistering. I’ll leave the extent of that and the locations up to your discretion. Most definitely around her hands and forearms at the least.

Background

Nynette was born and raised briefly in the booming hub of Marble Grove. When she was four years of age, her parents move their family to Light’s Reach under promise of employment. At age nine, Nynette was taken into the East Bluff Keep household for work in assisting the servants there. She learned quickly and her secret sense of wit did not go entirely unnoticed. An equally sly individual – the youngest of her masters and mistresses – saw great potential in the girl as both aide and perhaps a friend.

In the summer of 616 ATA, the recently returned Rowena Mikin staked a claim over the preteen and Nynette’s duties were shifted to cater more personally to the soon-to-be Duchess’ requests. She followed the woman’s move to West Bluff Keep in the year 623 and lived on the property. While employed under Rowena, Nynette learned a small bit about the healing trade – enough to better assist the Royal Healer in smaller tasks. She served as company for the Duchess most of the time, as her Mistress never did rely too heavily on Nynette’s hands over her own. Nynette was favored secretly above most the rest of the household staff and because of that, she was privy to escort special guests through the Keep to the Mastery and even spent long hours of the night in the Master suite chatting with the Duchess.

When the strange, Shadowed caves were discovered in the mines beneath East Bluff, Nynette found herself confided in greatly by the troubled Duchess and was privileged in this way to learn of many secrets that were kept wisely from more unscrupulous ears. The knitted bond between Nynette and Rowena was soon to be severed by the spawn of one such secret.

On the morning of the fateful day in 624, Nynette was left behind in the keep, tasked with chores, while the Duchess embarked on some errands of her own within the township. Later in the day as the chaos erupted, Nynette found herself scrambling in confusion with the rest of the staff. When the torch towers fell and joined the Ravager’s flame in swallowing the keep and its inhabitants, many did manage to escape. Nynette, however, could not be counted amongst them. She was presumed to be dead when the damage was warily assessed many days later when the Duchess could safely return. She was not seen amongst the refugees in the many encampments, and the sight of her bonnet beneath the scorched remains of furnishings and stone was too-ominous a sign. Her bones were assumed to lie with the others beneath the ashes that day, and she was grieved for greatly.

In reality, Nynette had not perished in those flames, though for a time she wished she had. When the building began to collapse, it was clear that remaining indoors was no more safe than venturing out into the flaming yard. She was knocked nearly unconscious in the effort to escape and became trapped between a crumbled wall and stairwell. The little niche created was large enough to accommodate her body, but it also did not shelter her entirely from the heat. Nynette mercifully fainted before the fire encroached on her hiding place, her lungs filled with smoke. Against the odds, however, the winds had shifted and sky began to tear. The blowing dust and the darkening sky deterred the flame from advancing further and her body was mostly spared. Nynette crawled from the remnants of the keep with her life, sans her lustrous hair. The teenager wandered until she was found by other lagged refugees and taken to recover in another township.

Her fear to return to the condemned grounds overwhelmed her desire to find her former Mistress. Many times did she encounter the Mikin flag riding past and a few times did she watch the Duchess herself ride through the streets in passing, but never was the encounter lasting. When her grievous wounds had fully healed and emotional scarring been overcome enough to attempt a new life, Nynette ventured out again in search of that which had been lost.

This brings us to present day. I used Nynette a LOT as an NPC in scenes prior to He Who Destroys and loved her little inserts and the charm or awkwardness they could present to the scene at hand. It made me sad to label her as “dead”, victim to the collapsed keep back then and I think it’d be neat to attempt to bring her back. She and Rowena would have much to catch up on, that is certain, and as a young adult she has a future now to consider and choices to be made. Stay with the Valoria family? Or strike out on her own. Perhaps she picked up some new skills and trades when she was in recovery? Maybe she found a beau? You decide.

Personality

Nynette was a very shy individual. Sure, she had opinions of her own, but kept them mostly masked from others around her. Her intelligence spanned beyond the domesticated, silent “yes ma’am, no ma’am” that her station dictated. She did grow easily flustered when in the presence of House guests, freelander or noble, and especially men. She blushes easily. After her ordeal, her personality is prone to have changed, of course, and what it has become I’ll leave up to her would-be player!

If you’d like to take the reins and bring this former servant back from the abyss, drop Rowena a note.