V i t a T i n k e r t o n
Nickname: Vee or Tink
Race: Halfling [Human x Skh'et]
Social Class: Lower, servant class.
Age: Fifteen
Powers: None
Talents: Has a special knack with horses. Even the most spirited of horses will be calm and docile under her care.
Specialization: Stable work and horse care.
Physical Appearance: Vita has warm skin that tans to a light olive under the summer sun. Her hair is strawberry blonde and her eyes are sky blue. She is of a small, slender build and is about four feet and five inches tall. Long skh'et ears adorn the top of head, cream colored with brown spots on the tips of them. Her hands are calloused from working in the stables and handling such equipment as pitchforks and shovels, but the rest of her skin has retained it's baby softness. She wears the count's livery while working in the stables, and when she has a day to herself will dress like any other young lady.
Background: Vita's birth mother was a lovely little Skh'et named Celena. She is hard working little woman with a big sexual appetite. She had many lovers, both before and after she conceived little Vita. Eventually, Celena earned a position cleaning the bed chamber's of a young count's manor. Every once in a while Celena would encounter the young man, and the proper, polite words would be exchanged before she'd get on with her duties. For no Skh'et likes to dilly dally when there is work to be done.
Over the course of the months, however, the count seemed to appear more and more wherever Celena was working. Polite words turned into flirtations, and eventually, as such things could lead to, a very physical relationship between the two. The count most certainly did not love the Skh'et, and felt no shame or regret at their encounters. Besides that, the little creature had already tarnished her reputation, and didn't seem to care that others whispered about her rather loose ways. But then, Celena's menses never came. Then another month went by with no sign of them, and by then she was experiencing ailments that commonly came with pregnancy. Celena never spoke a word of it to the count, and he never asked, even when her belly became round and full. Eventually he lost interest in the Skh'et, and when she gave birth to the child, he asked that she leave his manor, but leave the child in his care. Celena reluctantly left her daughter, but knew better than to argue with those above her. In a new home she wouldn't have to bear the shame of a fatherless child.
The count then ordered another skh'et couple, the Tinkertons, to care for the child. The Tinkertons, having no children of their own, were more than happy to oblige. They named her Vita and raised her as if their own..
As soon as Vita was old enough for work, at approximately the age of six, she was sent to work with the scullery maids. where she cleaned and set tables for the higher servants. Vita was never content with servant work, like most skh'et were. She often dilly-dallied through her duties, her head full of thoughts and worries. She didn't feel that this was the life she was meant to live, like there were larger and more important things in the world that she could be a part of. She often went outside and wandered into the stables while daydreaming about what the world away from the manor would be like. She liked to visit with the groom and horses there.
She'd often sneak treats out to the horses, apple slices or sugar cubes from the kitchens of the manor as that is what the groom told her the horses liked as a special treat. Vita even went as far as to shirk her responsibilities to visit the stables sometimes. The horses would always stick their heads out of their stalls to greet her, searching her hands and pockets for goodies. This went on until Vita's tenth birthday, when she was told by her parents that the count demanded her presence.
She was sure the count was ready to dismiss her from his household, and she both relished and feared the thought of it. She'd be able to break away and discover the city and world around her, but she did not want to end up the red circle of the city. She heard very bad tales about that place. She knew it was no place for the likes of her. But as she entered the count's study and curtseyed before him, he surprised her. He asked, very kindly, if she would prefer work in the stables. She stammered and barely whispered her reply with a yes. Upon her answer, another servant stepped forward and deposited a set of stable hand livery into her hands.
The count proceeded to inform her that she would now receive schooling apart from the other servant children. She would meet with a scribe in the manor's garden every morning after completing her stable duties. This utterly confused the child, but she did not argue. "You look just like your mother." The count commented in offhandedly before he sent her out. She thought it was a rather odd thing to say. She knew she looked nothing like her parents. She had always thought that she took after one of her deceased grandparents, or at least that was what her parents had always told her. What an odd birthday this had turned out to be.
As a stable hand, Vita had a little more freedom than working as a servant. Her usual duties took place early in the morning and later in the evening. She spent her free time exploring the city surrounding the manor. It was after her eleventh birthday that she saw an Azrein for the first time. The Azrein was more amazing than she had ever imagined from the stories she was told. Similar to a horse, but really not the same at all. It was much larger, and had odd patterns and markings on it that you would never see on any normal equine. She was too timid to approach the Azrein or it's bonded, but she was determined to gain the courage and get up close to one, someday.
It is now past Vita's fifteenth birthday. Her responsibilities have been increased as she has proven to be a hard worker and gifted with horses. She has been tasked with riding the count's horses to a meadow just outside of the city where they could get some exercise and fresh air every once in a while, along with her other daily work. Every day she went to the meadow, hoping to meet another Azrein.
Personality: Growing up as a servant with little exposure to the world outside of her master's home has made Vita timid and shy in regards to meeting strange and new people. However, the human in her has given her a curious and adventurous heart if only she had the courage to do so. She is polite and uses proper etiquette. She has learned to reserve her opinions, and speaks only when she is spoken to. She is better learned than others of the servant class, due to her private tutoring. She is very passionate about horses and horse care in general, as well as about Azrein. She would often ask the scribe who was her tutor many questions about the Azrein, and he would bring her books and scrolls to read.
"Childhood games, woods and lakes, streams of silver, toys of olden days."
