Name: Lethraina
Age: 26
Ethnicity: Egyptian
Height: 5'3"
Birth Place: Cairo, Egypt
Residence before Sildat: Brooklyn, New York
Physical Description: Skin of a reddish brown complexion stretch across her athletic yet curvy frame which stands at the height of five feet and three inches. A river of ink spills down from her scalp framing almond shaped eyes that are a soul piercing blue and high cheekbones, only to stop at her ankles. Tied in her hair, one will always find a small collection of shells strung together by a small string of leather and decorated with intricate beads. Decorating her skin is a thick line of scarring on the right sight of her face stretching from just above her eye brow down to her jaw line as well as thick scarring stretching across the expanse of her back as a result of wounds inflicted on her during her marriage. Around her neck, looped in her earlobes and dangling from her wrists and ankles intricate necklaces, earrings, bangles and cuffs can be found. Concealing her body from sight is a purple sari with gold stitching and a matching veil.
Personality: Her primary mode of living is focused internally, where she deals with things according to how she feels about them, or how they fit into her value system. Her secondary mode is external, where she takes things in via her five senses in a literal, concrete fashion. Lethraina tends to be quiet and reserved, and is often difficult to get to know well. She frequently holds back her ideas and opinions except from those who she is closest to. Unless she has a reason not to be, she is most often likely to be kind, gentle and sensitive in her dealings with others. She is interested in contributing to people's sense of well-being and happiness, and will put a great deal of effort and energy into tasks which she believes in.
Not only does she have a strong affinity for aesthetics and beauty, but she is a huge animal lover, and carries a true appreciation for the beauties of nature. Original and independent, Lethraina is an individual that needs to have personal space (even more so now because of the incident). Making it her goal to not make others uncomfortable, she is extremely perceptive and aware of others. She constantly gathers specific information about people, and often seeks to discover what it means. Due to her efforts, she is usually penetratingly accurate in her perceptions of others. In spite of her shyness, Lethraina is warm and sympathetic. She genuinely cares about people, and is strongly service-oriented in her desire to please (an old habit that she just can't shake). She carries an unusually deep well of caring for those who are close to her, and is more likely to show her love through actions, rather than words.
Lethraina prefers to blend in with the background and go unnoticed. She has no desire to lead or control others, just as she has no desire to be led or controlled by others (even more so now).
Biography: Lethraina was brought up immersed in a culture where women were seen as being lesser than men. To limit her contact with men as tradition, practices such as veiling and gender segregation at schools, work, and recreation were a common occurrence in her life. Once she reached puberty at the age of fourteen, her family removed her from school to further limit her contact with her male counterparts. At sixteen she was married to a twenty-one year old man whom was a very close family friend. In the beginning of the marriage, things were seemingly fine. Lethraina carried on her duties as an obedient housewife. Not once did she raise her voice or display any sort of ill temperament with her husband.
Good things don't always last however. Their marriage hit a rough patch when Amran lost his job. Six months came and went and still he found no employment. Frustrated, he took to drinking and became rather unpleasant to be around. His mood was almost always foul and his temper was much easier to flare. It quickly escalated into something physical but there was no one Lethraina could turn to. Her family told her it was something she had to deal with. They said it was her duty as a wife to stand by his side no matter how difficult the times were. So she did. She took the emotional, verbal and physical abuse holding her head high and looking for the better times that were sure to come. She endured his wrath for an entire year until finally things took a turn for the better, though not before she acquired herself a constant reminder of what had transpired. Marring her face was now a scar but sh paid it no mind because she had something else more pressing to focus on.
Now seventeen, she was with child and upon receiving the news Amran was elated. Not only did he have a new career, but now he had a child on the way. Their family was beginning to form. Unfortunately, yet another rough patch was to befall them. The pregnancy did not go as planned. Lethraina feel ill with a particularly bad fever and miscarried. Both she and Amran were devastated and Amran was quick to take his anger out on her. The beatings happened again though they stopped when she became pregnant again at twenty. While happy, Amran wasn't as elated as he had been the first time around. In fact, he seemed to lose interest in Lethraina. He began working longer and coming home later smelling of alcohol. One day however, he came home smelling of perfume bearing lipstick on his collar. Lethraina had had enough. No longer would she put up with it.
In a fit she proclaimed that she wanted a divorce and was leaving him. When she stormed towards the door he grabbed her by the arm and roughly threw her backward causing her to stumble and fall. The look in his eyes was wild and for the first time in a long time she was truly afraid. That night was the most violent of nights she had ever had to deal with but for the sake of her life and her unborn childs life she fought back. She delivered a swift kick to his crotch and used the time it took for him to crumble to get up and run. However, before she could get too far he took hold of her ankle, clipping her. As she fell, she reached for the table to regain balance but instead grasped the table cloth. When she fell, the cloth went with her pulling the lit candles down atop her. Her sari quickly caught fire, it's flames making quick work of her back. Her pain filled screams echoed throughout the house as the flames quickly spread grabbing the attention of neighbors.
The last thing she saw before blacking out was a neighbor pulling her from the burning house. When she awoke, she was laying in a hospital bed to be told that her husband did not escape the burning house and that once again she had miscarried. She felt both a mixture of devastation and elation. What was she to do now? She was to make a life for herself, on her own terms. Three months after being released from the hospital she received money from her husbands death and she used it to move to America. Since she lacked the proper education, she made a living off of her art and pottery skills.
RP Logs:
[META] [ORP] The Lotus of Choqlehut begining page 5
