PCs:Toova Ju'Eir

Overview

Name: Toova Ju'Eir
Race: Half-Dryad
Gender: Female
Age: Mid 20's
Class: Druid
Animal Companion: Juju
Faith: Verossa
Birthplace: Somewhere in Tyedu
Current Residence: Somewhere in T'Nanshi

Affiliations/Notoriety:

• Serves the Dark Trinity
• Consort of the High Priestess Francheska of the Second Circle

Description

Tall and slender with a pale complexion reminisces of a silvery oak. Her hair is cropped and free; in the color of the clouds or the leaves of her tree when they first bloom. Her eyes are the color of a mountain spring water, and a blissful smile always graces her lips. Now and then little leaf buddings appear in her hair.

It seems a small victory that she adapted to wearing clothes around others.

History

Toova was born to an overly possessive mother after a winterlong mating with a stranded hunter who found shelter in her grove. Her mother named her after what she desired most—a good daughter. Over the years, Toova was taught the ways of the Dryads and nature. Her mother taught her to commune with the trees and helped her plant her own Silvery Oak, making Toova believe that her life was entwined with the tree. This kept her from leaving the secluded grove, next to a nameless creek frozen for most of the year, in Tyedu.

When other Fey traveled and found the secluded grove, Toova was allowed to visit and speak with them but had to hold her mother's hand, even as a teenager. If men stumbled upon the grove, Toova had to hide in her tree without argument. As she grew older and bolder, she spied on them to understand why. She began to wonder if one of them was her father. Each time she brought it up to her mother, it was met with outrage and anger, fearing she would leave to live with men.

It was perhaps her seventeenth or twentieth winter when her life would change forever. Fall had shown all signs of being shorter than normal, and a harsh winter was upon them. The two made their preparations to survive the harshness. However, her mother, preoccupied with keeping her daughter in the grove and away from everything else, had neglected her own tree. Disease had set in: the leaves had yet to fall, and the once silvery bark was yellowing and weakening. The tree would not live through the winter, nor would it support her mother. Her mother showed the same signs of the disease, causing Toova a problem, as her mother's plan was for them to survive together within Toova's tree.

As her mother made the final plans, she retreated into her own sickly tree to gather the essence of the Heartwood from deep within, to use in the spring when she would plant a new tree. As her mother did so, Toova looked to the clouds and beseeched Verrosa to set her free from her mother and to remove the taint of disease from the grove. In turn, she promised to be Verrosa's instrument without question. With that, a single bolt of lightning came crashing into her mother's tree, splitting it in two and scorching it completely. She praised the curing of the grove and then merged with her own healthy tree.

The next spring, Toova emerged from her tree and was greeted with the rotting and decomposing remains of her mother and her mother's tree. She was pleased, as it had returned to nature and allowed new life. She tended to her own tree, and upon the first acorns forming, she picked them up and did as her mother was doing when the lightning struck. Once she knew the acorns would survive travel, she departed her mother's grove, where her mother's corpse and tree were decomposing and returning to nature, along a mostly frozen stream that still had no name, in the lands of Tyedu.

Beliefs on Nature and Verossa

Describing Toova as a zealot captures only a fraction of her devotion to Verossa. To Toova, Verossa embodies both life and death, having given her life by removing the unnatural taint from nature—her mother and her tree. On that day, Toova didn't merely accept Verossa; she came to see her as her mother. She follows the Storm Mother without question, fulfilling her desires.

Toova's unwavering commitment to maintaining the purity of nature drives her actions. She believes that nature must be free of the sickness and taint caused by people. Nothing angers her more than seeing crafters destroy a herd of stags for their skins or cut down trees to make goods for sale. In Toova's eyes, people are the true taint of nature, and she is resolute in her belief that they must be dealt with to preserve the natural order. She often imagines a world where nature is untouched by human hands, where the wilds are allowed to flourish without interference.

While Toova despises cities, towns, and villages, she has found a measure of respect for many in T'Nanshi for their efforts to live in harmony with nature rather than destroying it. This respect, however, is tempered by her deep-seated desire to be unleashed upon civilization, to tear down its structures and force a return to a more harmonious existence. Francheska, a wise and influential figure, holds her in check with the promise that the day will come when her dreams of reclaiming nature will be realized.

What truly disgusts Toova is how some imprison nature for their own desires in wooden or stone structures that are unnatural to plants or animals. The thought of animals or plants being confined and controlled for human purposes fills her with rage. She views such acts as the ultimate betrayal of the natural world and vows to liberate any who are imprisoned in such a manner.

Juju was one such animal. Captured and imprisoned in the city of Elysia, Juju had forgotten her true nature. Toova saved her from that life and taught her to embrace her true self and be one with nature. Since then, Juju has walked with Toova as a friend, not as an imprisoned and trained animal for others' amusement. Their bond is a testament to Toova's belief in the sanctity of nature and her commitment to freeing it from the grip of human hands.

Toova's reputation among the Verossians is one of reverence and fear. She is known for performing rituals, including the most solemn and sacred blood rites when required. These ceremonies are not for public display but remain deeply private, a sacred exchange between Toova and Verossa. Each ritual she conducts is a profound act of faith and devotion, often performed under the cover of darkness or in secluded groves away from prying eyes.

The blessings Toova bestows are never trivial or benign. When she communes with Verossa, it is with the gravest of intentions and purposes. She is known to seek the forces of destruction, and in response, destruction is granted to her, with no regard for collateral damage or innocent bystanders. Her presence is both revered and feared among the faithful. Tales of her power and the devastation she can invoke have spread far and wide. Many speak of forests set ablaze, storm-torn villages, and rivers that overflow their banks, all as a result of her supplications to Verossa. Her name is whispered with both awe and caution, for to incur her wrath, or the wrath of Verossa through her, is to invite calamity.

Yet, Toova's motives are rooted in a deep, unshakeable belief in the natural order and the will of Verossa. She sees herself as an instrument of the Storm Mother's will, carrying out what she perceives as necessary acts to maintain the balance of nature. Toova's actions, though often extreme, are driven by a sense of duty and an unwavering conviction in the righteousness of her cause. Among her most devout followers, she is a figure of inspiration and power, a living testament to the might and majesty of Verossa. They gather around her, seeking her guidance and blessings, willing to follow her into the heart of the storm if she so commands. To them, Toova embodies the very essence of Verossa's will—fierce, unyielding, and bound by the sacred duty to protect and preserve the natural world, no matter the cost.

Illiterate

Toova doesn't read or write any languages as she does not need them. All her correspondence is read and written for her by a trusted Verossian sister. She speaks in a combination of low fey, tribal common, and a language that only she and her mother could understand. She is known to create druidic and fey runes to express her desires and feelings.