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Aretussa

TrueName:Aretussa(Names - Ares Aret,Tussa
Gender:Stallion
Age:7
Species:Unicorn
Most Likely Found:The Plains
Abilities:A runner & able enough warrior
Family: Dam – Akeria, Sire - Unknown
Other Relations:Mates - Shimo,Dregs
Description: Normally, a solidly built, and well-muscled stallion with a broad chest, strong flanks and deep-set barrel. Legs too long to be stocky, neck just a bit thicker than his slighter, plainsdwelling brethren and that width carrying to his slightly boxy head. Aretussa is a chestnut bay who is liberally brindled by golden sienna and has points that shade to dark, rich hickory. His left front leg is marked by a long, jagged-edged stocking of white that nearly reaches his elbow, while a few white birdcatcher spots mark his coat here and there. His – once lustrous - mane and tail tassel, along with his feathers, ear tufts and beard are all the same deep, chocolatey umber and his horn and hooves – excepting the odd one that’s colored like bone – are just a shade lighter. His eyes are the orange-gold of roaring fire, though it’s been banked as of late. Grief and loss have taken their toll on the massy stallion, however, and he’s slimmed down and fallen lax in caring for himself.
Personality:Ares was always known as a garrulous, caddish sort; the type who teased and taunted and sometimes pushed a jest just a bit too far, but truly never meant to cause harm. Beneath that roguish, almost excessively rakish exterior, though, lay a stallion of deep compassion and empathy. He feels very deeply, craves connection, and there’s a part of him that aches to belong to… someone. Ares doesn’t always know how to express himself, particularly where strong emotions are concerned, and he tends to lose himself to brooding and stubborn silence. He’s been made aware of this flaw, though, and is working to be conscientious of it.
Background:Born to a free mare and an absent stallion – the result of a night of high spirts and much dancing – Ares was quite the typical young colt coming of age upon the Mare’s Back. As his dam wandered from place to place, mingling with a steadily changing cadre of companions, Ares too spent much of his early life living with that same sort of lighthearted, free footed abandon. Throughout those younger years, he frequently encountered a similarly aged youngster by the name of Dregs, with whom he often sparred and chased and teased into games and hornplay and whatever trouble they might get up to. His mother often chided him for treating his friend so rough, but he could never explain to her why Dregs frustrated him so. It wasn’t until a few years later, having only set out from his dam’s side a half season prior, that Ares found himself at a gather, this time as a grown, bearded stallion. Upon spotting the handsomely pied Dregs, all thoughts of foalish pursuits were dashed from his mind, and the fixation of his youth suddenly made a terrible amount of sense. Gone was the urge to taunt and nip; replaced by a different sort of urge altogether. The night they spent dancing made Ares feel complete for the first time in his life… and he hoped to cajole Dregs into travelling with him once dawn came. But, as the sun stallion began his race across the heavens, Ares woke to nothing at his side but a patch of flattened, dew-chilled grass.Dejected, but not entirely surprised – his hopes had been rather far-reaching after all – Ares went on his way, leaving the gather and sleeping dancers behind.Travelling from one side of the plains to the other, season after season, Ares sought out that same kind of attachment, but never seemed to find it in another. Not until he met Shimo. What started as a simple, chance encounter - meeting another reveler on the way to a long dance – quickly changed into something more. Ares was startled to discover that the lovely Shimo had known, and befriended, Dregs.And… perhaps it was that connection that drew Ares’ attention, at first. Here was a mare who had been so recently close with the stallion that had captured his heart. Being with her felt, just a bit, like being close to Dregs once again. But, those selfish, fleeting thoughts lasted only so long; Shimo soon intrigued and beguiled him all on her own. Although they danced throughout the glorious night, Ares was almost more pleased to leave the gather the next morning with the lovely blue mare at his side. His affection for her deepened and grew over time, as did her belly! Finding Dregs while on their way to the summer sea seemed to solidify something in the brindle stallion: there, with the both of them, was what he needed to be whole. Reassuring Dregs of that took some doing, but Shimo was nothing if not convincing! Unfortunately, their brief, but perfect little family was torn asunder in the most terrible way. Shimo’s foal – their foal – was lost to them. Ares’ first urge at seeing the fragile little thing lying there, suffering, was to find help! Dregs and Shimo would stay with the foal, but Ares needed to find a healer! The urge drove him on for days, and he ran without food or rest, desperately trying to find someone who might help. Finally, exhausted and heartsick, he admitted that his quest was in vain. He trudged back to the sea, to return to his mates, so he might grieve with them. Finding Shimo alone, the evidence of Dregs’ action – an action he’d not been brave enough to take – and Dregs’ departure, Ares fell into a deep despair. It’s only Shimo’s burning need to find Dregs; the fire that fuels her enough of a spark to keep him going. But he is a stallion still lost to memories and sorrow.

Dace

Name: Dace
Gender: Stallion
Age: 14
Species: Unicorn
Most Likely Found: Though he was born upon the plains, Dace has made a home in the Vale
Abilities: Dace is a warrior and also quite skilled at survival techniques from many years spent traversing the mare's back
Family: Sire - Preaus and Dam - Bryna are both of the Free People. Mate - Halla, Children - Twins, a daughter - Bryna & Son - Selki, and he and Halla also expecting their 3rd foal
Other Relations: Shoulder Friends - Vari & Scylla, and Rohar
Description: Dace is a black and dark emerald green paint with classic tobiano markings. He's got green legs, a black head, a black chest and other various large blotches of black and green) with a black and green parti-colored mane, tail, tassles, feathers and beard. His eyes are a deep, dark green and his horn and hooves are black.
Personality: Very outgoing and charming, Dace is about as friendly as stallion as you could meet. He's fond of spending time with his family and his friends, and he loves sparring with Vari and training other warriors. He's also quite gregarious and a bit of an unashamed flirt.
Background: Dace was born upon the mare's back to the stallion Preaus and the mare Bryna (for whom he named his first daughter). During his early years, his parents often found themselves travelling with a regular 'band' and around the same time as his birth, one of the other mares in their small group also birthed a son. This bronze dun colt, Vari, would become Dace's closest companion. He and Vari grew up together, almost as brothers, and shared all of their foalhood adventures and trials and tribulations. One such trial that the two faced was a horrific flood that took the life of Vari's father and also cost him the use of his voice due to a resulting illness. Dace stuck by his friend despite his disability and because of their closeness, he learned to 'interpret' Vari's expressive semaphore.

After several more years together with their family groups, the two decided to strike off on their own. They wandered for quite some time, relying on thier friendship and the skills they learned along the way to survive. The journey hardened them both, and turned them into strong, rangy young warriors. Eventually they set their sights on visiting the famed Ringdancer's Vale. Shortly after thier arrival, Vari meet and courted the mare Scylla, and though Dace never thought he'd be the type to forego his plainsdweller roots, he followed Vari's example and also met and courted a mare from the Vale. He and Halla started a family almost immediately and though he experiences occasional bouts of restlessness, he's mostly content.

Recently, with the growing disquiet in the Vale due to unstable relations with the Gryphons, Dace sent Halla and their young children to the Hallow Hills for their protection. He stayed behind at a warrior of the Vale to defend it should the need arise.

Vari

Name: Vari
Gender: Stallion
Age: 14
Species: Unicorn
Most Likely Found: Vari resides in the Vale with his mate, Scylla and thier offspring
Abilities: Vari is a skilled warrior and sentry
Family: Sire - Voras (deceased) and Dam - Feyle, both of the Free People. Mate - Scylla, Children - Son - Vall, Adopted Daughter - Celeste (Born to the mare Dusk), and Scylla is currently expecting their 2nd foal
Other Relations: Shoulder-friends, Dace, Halla & Rohar
Description: Vari is a molten bronze dun that exhibits all of the classic dun markings. His body is the color of liquid bronze and all of his points are coal black. He's got a smutty face, primitive banding on his legs and across his withers, shoulders and flanks, and a dorsal stripe down his back. His mane, tail, beard, tassles, feathers, horn and hooves are all black while his eyes are black flecked with gold.
Personality: Having spent many years of his life without the ability to speak, Vari tends to be very mellow and quiet. Additionally, he expresses himself with his body language very well and is also very empathic towards others. That's not to say he's not a friendly sort, as he's quite chatty when the mood strikes him and likes to make himself available to assist others. Vari is fiercely loyal also, and a dedicated family man. There is nothing he wouldn't do for his mate, his children or his shoulder friend.
Background: Vari was born upon the mare's back to the stallion Voras and the mare Feyle. During his early years, his parents often found themselves travelling with a regular 'band' and around the same time as his birth, one of the other mares in their small group also birthed a son. This motly pied colt of green and black, Dace, would become Vari's closest companion. He and Dace grew up together, almost as brothers, and shared all of their foalhood adventures and trials and tribulations. One such trial that the two faced was a horrific flash flood; young Vari scrambled to avoid the rushing water, but was overcome. Voras saved him, ensuring his son's life at the cost of his own. Having been submerged in the dirty, debris-filled flood water, Vari took ill. A healer was able to nurse him back to health eventually, but his vocal cords were damaged and he found himself with only a very limited ability to speak.

To his greatest relief and joy, Dace stuck by him despite his disability (for which many shunned him) and because of their closeness, he learned to communicate with Dace through the use of exaggerated expressions and pantomime. After several more years together with their family groups, the two decided to strike off on their own. They wandered for quite some time, relying on thier friendship and the skills they learned along the way to survive. The journey hardened them both, and turned them into strong, rangy young warriors. Eventually they set their sights on visiting the famed Ringdancer's Vale. It was at the Vale that Vari came across a singularly unique and beautiful mare with a pelt of vibrant orange. He became enamored of Scylla, and to his utter shock, she felt the same. This amazing mare also turned out to be a skilled healer and with her extensive talents she was able to help him recover the use of his voice. He and Scylla pledged shortly after thier meeting and have since raised one son, took in a 'foster' child and are expecting their next child.

Recent diquiet in the Vale regarding degrading relations with the Gryphons prompted Vari to send his young son Vall to the Hallow Hills in the company of Dace's mate and children, ostensibly to visit his relative. Since Scylla is the Vale's most skilled healer and will be needed should conflict arise, Vari stays to protect her and their home.

Sirraz

Name: Sirraz
Gender: Mare
Age: 16
Species: Unicorn
Most Likely Found: Sirraz can most often be found on the Mare's back, journeying across the Far Plains
Abilities: Sirraz has an unusual seer's ability in that she is able to read the emotions of other's through the visualization of their auras (a glowing nimbus surrouding another figure that changes colors based on their emotions). Through meditation she can actively seek out these visions, although sometimes if they are strong enough, she can see them with very little effort. She also occasionally gets 'feelings' that affect the descisions she makes. She considers this to be the will of Alma.
Family: Sire and Dam who both reside in the Hallow Hills
Other Relations: None (that she is aware of)
Coloring: Her body is a sandy taupe color, darkened just slightly at her muzzle and knees, with ivory stockings on all four legs that extend the full lenght of her cannons. Her mane, tail, beard and over-long feathers are all a soft blush rose color. Her round hooves are a crystalline pink, and her horn gradiates from that same petal pink, to a pale ivory. Her eyes are a dreamy turquoise.
Personality: Sirraz is quiet and gentle and fits the role of a mystic quite well. She often prefers solitude for the opportunity it gives her to get lost in her dreams, however she can also be tenacious when it comes to helping others. Though she's never directly communed with the Mother of All, it is her belief that she is being guided to help others and she uses her ability to read auras to assist her where she can. Despite being born in the Vale and under the laws of the ring, Sirraz feels that she is one of the Free People at heart.
Background: Sirraz was born and raised in the Vale. While her early years were quite staid and pleasant, when she neared a half-growns age, she began to start experiencing her 'gift' and started to feel as though the confines of the Ring weren't meant for her. It was shortly after her Pilgrimage that the young mare slipped away from her home and set off to explore the world. Her wandering took her all over the known lands and eventually her curiosity saw her traveling beyond the Salt-Flats and across the harsh desert. Blind luck saw too it that she survived, thanks to her being found by a Sandstalker of the Lost Desert, on the far edges of his patrol. She regained her strength at an oasis with the Sandstalker, and learned quite a bit of his culture. When she was strong enough, she made the return journey to the known plains. It was during her continues travels that Sirraz once again got a 'feeling' that she was needed and some deliberate wandering brought her upon the unlikely pair of a moody, bitter stallion, and a gentle but mute mare. She feels this is where Alma wants her to be and it is her duty to help them both.

Kaiara

Name: Kaiara
Gender: Mare
Age: 16
Species: Unicorn
Most Likely Found: Though Kaiara wanders around the plains, she tends to return quite often to the oasis of Alma's Heart.
Abilities: Kaiara is skilled with horn and hoof and is quite experienced at surviving upon the Mare's Back.
Coloring: She is a plum pointed ivory dun. Her body is a crisp ivory, which just the barest hint of velvety plum touching the tips of her fur, which shades into rich, ripe plum at all her extremities. She's also got all of the other classic dun markings: a dorsal stripe, smutty face, primitive leg banding and striping on her shoulders and flanks. Her mane, tail, feathers and beard are all the rich, dark purple of ripe concord grapes. Her hooves and horn are white with an opalescent sheen, and her eyes are amethyst.
Family: Half Brother - Ororn
Other Relations: Friends from her youth - Tahar, Sahana, and Rohar. She is currently trying to have a foal with the stallion Tahar.
Personality: Kaiara is a fiesty young mare. She's sweet and loyal and protective... if a little mixed up in matters of the heart. Having been 'burnt' once before because of her infatuation with a stallion she'd known many years, she tends to be a bit more hesitant about being free with her feelings. Mostly she just wants to be loved, and she feels that having a foal is the most important thing in her life right now.
Background: Kaiara spent a normal filly-hood upon the mare's back, often spending time with her cousin Ororn and a group of other young colts and fillies. When they grew older, this group took to wandering together, and as a result of a wild dog attack, they were separated from one of their number - the stallion Rohar. The remaining members searched for him for quite a long time an in his absence, she began to study her feelings for him. During this time, however she also grew strongly aware of the stallion Tahar.

Kaiara was quite conflicted over her feelings for the two and it wasn't until she and the others finally tracked Rohar down upon the shores of the sea where the Ringdancer's held their marital rites, that she was forced to face the truth. Rohar had pledged himself in the Ringdancer way to a mare he'd met during his absence. Angry with herself for having nursed feelings for him for so long, only to end up looking quite the fool, Kaiara tried to distance herself from the others. Tahar stuck with her though, even after thier band split up, and she's decided that since she does care for him, and she wants to have a foal, Tahar would make a suitable sire. Unfortunately the pair have yet to concieve and she's growing frustrated. Word of gifted healers in the Hallow Hills has inspired Kaiara to talk Tahar into joining her in heading that direction. If they can get along long enough to make it.
Doìmhéal

Name: Doìmhéal (goes by Dom)
Gender: Stallion
Age: 11
Species: Unicorn
Most Likely Found: Dom can always be found somewhere about the Hallow Hills; most often on it's verges where he is frequently posted at sentry.
Abilities: Dom is a warrior and a guardian of the Hallow Hills. He and often serves Sentry duty as well as assists the Battle-Prince in training young warriors.
Family: Sire Siònnach and Dam Azure. Elder brother - Cal, Younger sister - Nin (all of whom reside in the Vale). Son - Suede (whom he does not know about)
Other Relations: Shoulder Friend - Puck, friends - Basil, Kika and Coalfoot
Description: Dom is an extremely handsome stallion. He is a minimally marked, rosey sooty-bay tobiano. His body is a deep rose color that shades nearly to black at his points, while his dorsal side has sooty markings, looking though he's perpetually damp, and his underbelly and tender areas are all a lighter rose shade that's hued with gold. Each leg is streaked with irregular, white stockings, some that reach up to mark his stomach, while a white blaze covers his dished face from the base of his horn to his lips. A few small blotches of white mark his left shoulder, and one of these drapes his withers and trails down to his right elbow. His mane, tail, feathers and beard are all a dark, nearly black rose except where they are interrupted by his white markings. Two of his hooves are the same shade of gold that shades his belly, while the other pair are dark ruby. His long, wicked skewer is twined with garnet and onyx, and his sagacious eyes are a soft gray.
Personality: Dom (as he is called by nearly everyone) is the epitome of a Warrior's warrior. This handsome stallion exemplifies the characteristics that set a truly heroic warrior apart from the throng; strength, speed, cunning, intelligence, bravery, ferocity and unwavering loyalty. He is a friendly enough fellow to his comrades, a mentor to the young half-growns eager to sharpen their horns, and an unabashed flirt with the mares. It is this latter attribute that causes him the most trouble. Though he's a Ringdancer through and through, he sometimes feels that his heart belongs to the Free people, as he doesn't want to ever settle down with just one mare. Though it goes against all tradition, he much prefers to spend a single evening in the company of a mare and then depart at dawn.
Background: Dom was born in the Vale and was barely a half-grown when the Ring Dancers returned to the Hallow Hills to reclaim their ancestral lands from the Wyverns. Though too young to participate in the battle itself, stories of the battle reached the nearby plains where young Dom and his fellow uninitiated waited, and the young colt gloried in every triumph and mourned every loss as though he were there. This colored the youngster's development and he pushed himself to become one of the youngest initiates ever to join the ranks of Warrior.

Glisterhoof

Name: Glisterhoof (Glister)
Gender: Stallion
Age: 9 & 1/2
Species: Unicorn
Most Likely Found: Traveling the Mare’s back – never too far from Alma’s Heart
Abilities:Like most of the free people, Glister is handy with his horn and hooves.
Family:Family: Kitebone (Dam), Shale Silverfoot (Sire), Goshawk (Uncle)
Other Relations:Shoulder Friend – Vehran. Part of a group of foalhood friends who dubbed themselves ‘Alma’s Stars’.
Description: Glister is a pewter and oyster tobiano (patterned quite like a Dutch rabbit). From the middle of his barrel all the way over his flanks to the top of his gaskins his coat is a gleaming dark grey with just a hint of blue-green.This same color also masks most of his head and ears, but is split down the middle by a broad stripe of a dark cream that paints his muzzle, pours down his neck, and across his chest and forelegs, while his rear legs are dipped in this oyster-pearl color as well. His mane and tail are demarcated by the color of his hide, being mostly a taupe with just a hint of the dark steel mixed in. His horn is a shade of soft silver. It is his hooves, though, that are most often remarked upon. Shimmering silver, the color of skystuff, they gleam and glisten in the light.
Personality:A cheerful, outgoing stallion who likes to laugh and jest. Although sometimes those jests might be made at the expense of others, he means no harm. He’s a kind soul who enjoys meeting new people and traveling in whatever direction his horn is pointed. His friendship is easily earned, but his loyalty is slow to forge, although once developed, is strong as steel.
Background: Glister had a very ‘normal’ colthood upon the Mare’s Back. His sire and dam met at a gather, courted briefly and danced the longdance to its end. His early years were frequently spent amongst the both of them - as his parents found a bond of friendship between them as well as their more primitive connection - along with various other friends and relatives. It was during these formative years that the young colt attended a Gather and forged a pact with a dozen others. When he was just weaned, his mother danced again, so after his half-sib was born, Glister found himself more and more in the company of Shale and his dam’s sib, Goshawk. A few seasons later his mother’s brother parted ways from Kitebone and her new foal, and while his sire chose to continue traveling with her, Glister left them both to join Goshawk. The two ventured together for quite awhile, picking up and losing companions, both new and old, along the way. Eventually, he and Goshawk found themselves at a gather, and while the offer of companionship lured his Uncle away, Glister felt no such urge. Instead, the young stallion who verged on the cusp of adulthood, chose another path.

Parting ways from Goshawk, he drifted from one small cluster of travelers to another. This listless wandering took him, eventually, near to the Hallow Hills. It was not far from the milkwood groves and chalk cliffs, that the pied stallion quite literally stumbled over a unicorn who was to become his dearest shoulder-friend. He’d been plodding along with eyes half-lidded against the noonday sun, and then he’d ducked around a stand of brush and scrub trees and barreled clumsily into another unicorn, who reclined in their shade. After righting himself and untangling limbs, he’d apologized while the stranger grumbled and it wasn’t until he heard the lilt of her voice that he realized the sturdy figure to be a mare. She chided him the same way his Uncle would have, bullying him with her words and her sturdy body, and something about her roughness caught Glister’s attention. Somehow, he knew that he and this feisty, bawdy mare were destined to friendship.

Glister continues to wander, sometimes with Vehran and sometimes in the company of others. He lives a pleasant existence but cannot help his excitement over the upcoming reunion with the small group that so shaped his early years.

Naveed

Name: Naveed
Gender:9 & ½
Age: Stallion
Species: Unicorn
Most Likely Found: Wandering the plains
Abilities:Used to be a capable warrior and strategist. In his current state, he is capable of very little
Family: Sire - unknown stallion, Dam - Oaktail, Siblings - Unknown
Other Relations:Part of a group of foalhood friends who dubbed themselves ‘Alma’s Stars’. Currently traveling with one of them, Iris and a mare called Sky.
Description:Once a big and bold stallion of rich mahogany bay tobiano, with a blanket of soot over his broad back, pale tender areas, and streaks of white crossing his haunches and withers to chase down each leg. Eyes of bluest midnight used to stare out from that noble visage. Formerly strong of limb and fleet of hoof, Naveed has since become a shadow of his former self. His coat is dulled, his body wasted from deprivation, and his eyes very rarely find focus.
Personality:Though he was once a quiet but friendly sort and loyal beyond telling, Naveed is plagued by the weakness of addiction and knows that he has very little to offer anyone. He is moody from the withdrawal and prone to dark moods and odd fits. And when the memories that he tries so hard to chase away come forth to plague him, he can even go a bit mad.
Background:Born of free people upon the mare’s back, son to a proud mother and product of a joyous longdance tryst, Naveed had a very normal colthood. The high-point of his formative years being the adventure he shared with a dozen other colts and fillies one fateful night. But like most children of the free people, his dam soon had another foal to look after, and he set out from her side with a beard barely sprung from his chin. What followed for this tortured stallion… he cannot bring himself to remember. It is far too painful to recall, but it is this tragic event though, that led Naveed to his current addiction. He has not seen any of the others from that foalhood group, save on one occasion. He encountered a mare with a coat of sun, and though his recollections of this encounter are herb-muddled, it is yet another memory he tries so very hard to keep quiet.

Several years later, Naveed’s life is made up of one dreary day after another. Most days that he can track down more of the terrible ghostleaf are spent in a mindless haze, and on those days when he goes without, he knows only pain and agony. He aches for nothing more than the time of the reunion with his old friends, but he dreads and fears this meeting as well. It is because of this terrible conflict within him that he cannot bring himself to live without the vile herb that has so wasted his mind and body.
Brionglaìd

Name: Brionglaìd aka Brig
Gender: Stallion
Age:18
Species:Unicorn
Most Likely Found: On the Mare’s Back - he's one of the Free People.
Abilities: Brig is a stalwart warrior and is extremely skilled in tracking and survival.
Family: Sire - Briathran, Dam - Dovetail, Half-Siblings – Ternbriar (elder through Dam), and Greysun Dawn (younger through Sire)
Other Relations: Currently travels with a small group including Neo, Pardling, Wiser and three others.
Description: Brig is a handsomely colored stallion. His flanks and barrel are a dark, dusty taupe that shades a bit rosy as it moves down his legs, and then darkens abruptly to blackened stockings; while a sooty blanket coats his back, rump, withers, crest and the slope of his dished face. Dove grey eyes shine dramatically against this dusky mask. His tender areas are faded to a dusty grey-blue, and faint, but dark dapples are scattered across his shoulders, hips and along his elegantly curving neck. Two small, fetlock-high socks mark his front right, and left rear legs, and the hooves beneath those white socklets are silvery-grey. The hooves on his non-marked legs, as well as his gleaming skewer are a blackened rose, not quite matching his mane and tassels which are wine-dark.
Personality:Perhaps the best word to describe Brig is dutiful. Though never legitimately initiated into the ranks of Vale warriors, Brig has always done his utmost to emulate what he believes are their ways. He takes any responsibility he is given with sincerity and dedication and is always on the lookout to help those who need it. He gives little thought to his own needs, and he tends to be overly stiff and polite when dealing with others. He’s not very good at social interaction unless it involves helping or protecting or tracking someone.
Background:To understand Brig’s history, it is necessary to understand more of his parents. Briathran was a loyal and dutiful warrior of the Ring and during his eleventh year escorting the half-growns to be made warriors at the Moon’s Mere, the pilgrimage was overcome by a serpentcloud. Briath managed to get the youngsters to safety but he himself was swept up in the powerful storm. Through the grace of Alma, he managed to survive, but was left badly injured and separated from the rest of the band. A group of ‘renegades’ came upon the wounded stallion and one mare in particular cared for him and nursed him back to health. His recovery took many months, and during that time he grew quite attached to the mare, Dovetail. Having no mate of his own back in the Vale, he shared intimacies with Dovetail, and he wished her to return with him to his home when he was well enough to make such a long journey, to pledge with him under the eyes of Alma. He was quite devastated to learn that his were not the ways of the free people and that Dovetail had no interest in going with him, and so he planned to make the journey alone when he was able

Fate intervened yet again, as just days before he intended to leave he found out that Dovetail was with foal. Bound by the duty to see his get delivered safely and despite her protests, Briath stayed with Dovetail. He did not stick by her side at all times, however, as he found that he needed to do ‘something’ that was familiar. And so he took to patrolling the surrounding lands, dispatching pards and acting as a guardian for the area, and would often be gone for many days at a time. He returned several days after Brig’s birth and though he’d originally intended to leave for the Vale after his son was born, he found he couldn’t leave. Once again he set a goal for himself: when his son was weaned, he’d head back to his long abandoned Ring.

Alas, when Brig was barely weaned his mother came into foal again, but the pregnancy was troubled and both she and the foal died prior to its birth. Once again, Briath found himself bound by duty to stay upon the plains. He tried to raise Brig, but he couldn’t seem to stop his habit of going on long patrols. Brig was often left in the care of Dovetail’s own dam. When father and son did spend their brief bits of time together, Briath would regale his son with stories of the Vale and its warriors and noble traditions. Brig was enamored of the idea of growing up to be a ring-bound warrior just like his sire. He hoped that when he was of age, his father would take him to the Hallow Hills that he might stand his own pilgrimage over the waters of the mere. However when he was just over three and a half years old, his father set off yet again, only this time did not return. He later learned that Briath had finally made good on his vow to return to his beloved ring.

Despite having been abandoned by his father, Brig continued to idolize him and the idea of being a warrior of the Vale. He trained as often as he could with anyone who would teach him and sought knowledge from anyone that he and his Granddam traveled with. By the time he was a half-grown and of age to become an initiated warrior, Brig had learned much in the way of combat and tracking and survival. He set off on his own towards the Hallow Hills and waited there for the next pilgrimage to arrive. When they did, Brig observed them for a time, and awaited an opportunity that he might speak to the leader of the band - a fierce, pitch-dark stallion - and when the time seemed right he finally brought himself out of cover and proclaimed his wish to join their numbers. To his dismay, Brig was met with anger and shouts and the word ‘renegade’ was spat at him from many mouths. No matter how he tried to explain, they would not listen and he was chased away from the Hallows by a score of hardened warriors.

Dejected, but still not without his own aspirations, Brig returned to the ringdancers sacred land just after their departure. He knew the ritual from his father’s own telling and so he stood his own private vigil on the mere’s edge and supped his single mouthful of water from the briny pool, and he beheld his own vision upon its mirror-surface. The next morning Brig left the moon pool and the milkwood groves behind him, and though he knew he would never be able to find a home in his father’s ring, he swore to always comport himself as one of their number.
Lew

Name: Palewind Blew (Lew)
Gender: Stallion
Age: 27
Species: Unicorn
Most Likely Found: Somewhere upon the Mare’s Back
Abilities: Enjoying himself, shirking responsibility, and avoiding angry mares
Family: Dam - Siltstone, Sire – Milkfleck (deceased)
Other Relations: Several siblings, though he does not know any. No offspring.
Description: Lew is an extremely good looking stallion, even for his age, and still in surprisingly good shape for as hard as he’s lived. He carries a bit more weight in his belly these days and hints of grey are starting to show on his muzzle, but his back is still strong and hardly sloping, his legs are lean but well-muscled and his neck still carries a proud arch. His coat is a nut-brown that shades to rich, dark cocoa points and a creamy, pale appaloosa blanket sweeps across his back while the whole of his coat is marked here and there by dark-cocoa spots. Two socks of the same pale cream mark his rear legs and the hooves on those marked legs are sand, while his front hooves are dark russet. His horn is a lighter shade of russet then his hooves, and his mane and tail tassel are both auburn, suffused with highlights of cinnamon and nutmeg. His eyes are the only part of him not colored anything like the earth. They are instead, like the sea; the bright turquoise-green of warm shallows just starting to give way to deeper blue depths.
Personality: If there is one thing that Lew lives for, it is to enjoy himself to the fullest and he is in complete denial over the fact that he might want to think of reining himself in as he’s getting older. He is willing and eager to try anything that makes him feel good, and about the only strenuous activity in his life is how hard he works to avoid ever slowing down in that pursuit. He’ll take risks if it means a pleasurable payoff, and he tends to encourage the same kind of behavior in others. Most of the time Lew is a very likeable guy, though more settled folk might find him a bit off putting and crass. He’ll fight for fun, or to impress a mare, but if his life is in danger, he’d much prefer to simply run away. Lew’s biggest fault is that he is quite selfish and therefore has a tendency to wheedle and cozen and make promises he does not intend to keep. He also abhors anyone who wants to stifle his fun, or lecture him about growing up or imply that he’s wasting his life.
Background: Many moonturns ago a mare called Siltstone, a sweet-tempered if slightly flighty plains mare, gave birth to her first child. Although she was learned in herblore and often assisted the midwives in birthing, Siltstone had always fancied herself as having a ‘laysinger’s gift for words’, and dubbed her son Palewind Blew because it looked as if a wind blew up and dusted his haunches and back with pale sand. As a youngster Lew didn't care for his name; but, when he got old enough to make his own decision about such things, instead of changing it entirely he chose to simply shorten it somewhat, thereby still honoring his dam’s ‘creativity’. ‘Lew’ seemed to suit him well enough, and the only one to still call him Palewind is his mother. If one catches him feeling vulnerable, there’s a rare chance he might tell the story of his birth name and where it came from.
When Lew was just a young colt, he was tussling and mock-sparring with another foal as unicorn youngsters are wont to do. Lacking horns as of yet, the pair went at each other with unsharp hooves, eagerly snapping teeth and wildly-flying heels. A particularly poorly aimed kick caught Lew in a tender area, and although he recovered from what ended up a very devastating injury, the result of the damage wasn’t discovered until many years later when Lew was a young stallion in his prime. Although the handsome stallion danced with many a mare, none of those encounters ever bore fruit.
It was a certain special mare who convinced him to speak with a healer to find out why. They spent two seasons traveling together, picking up and losing other companions in the normal way of the free people, but staying ever at each others sides. He’d danced with her more than once, and found that in her presence, he sometimes forgot his urges to be quite so impulsive and irresponsible; she inspired something very deep and passionate in the otherwise capricious stallion. When they encountered another small group that had a healer among them, she urged Lew to ask him about his lack of offspring. The healer confirmed that it was likely that the injury he’d suffered as a colt left the stallion sterile. Learning this truth seemed to change Lew, and he grew even more reckless and wild and abandoned in his behaviors. Despite caring for him, the mare tired of his antics very quickly and Lew woke one late morning after a night’s debauchery, to find that she’d departed without him. He hasn’t seen her since.
The rest of Lew’s history is a storied one, at least as far as he tells it. Any unicorn who’s made a name for them self in recent years seems to have stepped hooves onto Lew’s path. He crossed horns with a mad king, danced shoulder-to-shoulder at a longdance with a star-strewn seer, spent time in the company of a red mare, and joined a handful of his brave brethren in fighting white wyrms beside a night-black warrior marked as Alma’s own. And it’s difficult to know how much of what Lew recalls is embellishment or truth. Only the handsome, appaloosa stallion knows for sure.

Mallard

Name: Mallard (known to everyone as Duck)
Gender: Stallion
Age: 8
Species: Delta Unicorn (sire was a Dayan-Unicorn, dam a Scout of Halla)
Most Likely Found: He was born in the Delta, but has since ventured onto the plains.
Abilities: He’s quite handy at fixing things that need fixing. Quite an adept fighter should the situation call for it.
Family: Sire - Leoben, Dam – Ara. Full Sister – Heronblue (2 yo). Elder Half-Sister(by Leoben & Stasya) Jonquil, Younger Half-Sister(by Leoben & Karrayeh) Egret, Younger Half-Sister(by Leoben & Karrayeh) Sandhill, Elder Half-Sister(by Leoben & Cloversnip) Seaspray, Younger Half-Sister(by Ara & Kickdust) Skygold.
Other Relations: Shoulder friends – Kavik (a Da Gelding) and Born. The ‘family’ group: Karrayeh (Dayan-Unicorn Mare), Stasya (Dayan-Unicorn Mare), Cloversnip (Plains Mare), Kickdust (Plains Stallion). Non-siblings from the family group: Freewind, Dayspring & Rushlight.
Description: Rubine-eyed Duck is quite the amalgamation of his parents in both coloration and build. From his dam, Duck takes the grey-ghosted taupe that colors most of his body, as well as the ivory that brindles minimally and lightly over his shoulders, rump and barrel. From his sire he gets the points that darken to deep, olivey green and then that dark, shimmery Prussian blue; and also from his paternal side comes the pale cream rabicano roaning at his croup and flank and stifles, the ivory socks and the stripe-snip down his broad face. Where those bright yellow horn and hooves come from is anyone’s guess, but it is those, combined with the sheen of his dark head that prompted his given name. He takes after his sire in height, although Leoben wasn’t all that tall for a Da, but the shagginess of his coat and the stoutness of his build, are definitely scout traits.
Personality: Laid back, laconic, and sometimes even lacksidasical, these are terms that would describe Duck quite well. He’s a mellow young stallion, slow to anger, quick to forgive and it takes quite a bit to ruffle his ‘feathers’. Despite his soft-spoken nature, he’s got a keen mind that’s ever churning, and he uses the simple skills of listening and observation to gather information about those around him. Sometimes, he puts this knowledge to use to help others; sometimes he just files it away. Again, despite being rather unassuming, he’s also very crafty, and can figure out solutions to odd problems. He’s often the last one someone will think to seek out for help, but when they do end up talking to him, he has a round-about way of setting them on the correct path. Buried well-beneath Duck’s gentleness, and the coy, quietude is a depth of passion that is rare to see. His firmest belief is that all that everyone really wants is to love and be loved.
Background: Mallard was born to Ara, a tawny, granite-pointed brindle scout mare, and Leoben, a Da-made-unicorn stallion whose black roan coat took on hues of blue and green at his points after supping from the mere. The story behind his unique moniker is that as a newly birthed foal, the midwife commented that the little colt with his legs all tucked tight beneath his body and his dark, gleaming head, looked like nothing more than a mallard duck, roosting in the grass. In homage to the land they’d both settled, where the waterfowl were quite common, his parents decided the named suited their son just fine. He was mostly called Mallard in his early days but, when his horn sprouted the same yellow-orange as a ducks bill, the diminutive stuck and he was known as Duck almost exclusively thereafter.
Duck was raised in almost a communal manner. His sire kept company with two of the Da-turned-unicorn mares that he’d escaped the Firekeepers with, as well as his dam and another mare of the Free People. Although Ara was his birth mother, all of those mares treated him as their own foal, and Duck was never without motherly attention. Ara, likewise, refused the notion of binding herself to one stallion, and though she loved Leoben, she also felt strongly that it was her duty to encourage genetic diversity amongst her people. She was just as comfortable with the notion of ‘sharing’ him with the other mares, as he was with her sharing herself.
Surrounded by such diversity, Duck learned much about the cultures and histories of all the peoples who made up his life. It was perhaps this continual stream of knowledge and conversation and ‘togetherness’ that made Duck so quiet. He’d always been more content to just sit back and listen. His closest companion from early on, despite a disparity in their ages, was Kavik, one of the Da geldings who’d fled the Firekeepers with his sire. And when he grew a bit older, he also grew close to Freewind, who is like an elder brother to him. Free is as garrulous as Duck quiet, and somehow that works well for the pair of them. He's been listening to Free talk of his desire to venture out into the world, and decided that he'd best go along to keep him out of trouble.

Freewind

Name: Freewind (Called Free)
Gender: Stallion
Age: 11
Species: Delta Unicorn (sire is a Plains Unicorn, Dam a Dayan-Unicorn)
Most Likely Found: Born on the Delta, but now wandering the Mare's Back
Abilities: Extremely smart and a good problem solver. A good fighter, when he's not too busy being a coward. Also extremely gifted at being annoying yet inexplicably charming at the same time.
Family: Sire - Kickdust, Dam – Karrayeh. Younger Half- Sister – Egret (by Leoben & Karrayeh), Younger Half-Sibling (by Kickdust & Ara) Skygold, Younger Half-Sister (by Leoben & Karreyah) – Sandhill, Elder Half-brother (by Kickdust x Cloversnip) Rushlight, Younger Half-sister (by Kickdust x Stasya) Dayspring
Other Relations: Shoulder friends – Kavik (a Da Gelding) and Born. The ‘family’ group: Ara (Scout Mare), Stasya (Dayan-Unicorn Mare), Cloversnip (Plains Mare), Leoben (Dayan-Unicorn Stallion). Non-siblings from the family group: Mallard, Heronblue, Seaspray & Jonquil.
Description: Free is a handsome copper bay roan, with minimal tobiano markings of pale pearl. His body is a soft, creamy pale orange with hints of rose and gold which shades to vibrant, brassy copper at his legs and head, and then to pitch-dark black. Random, jagged, lightning-strikes of creamy pearl streak across his belly, down his legs, across his shoulders, haunches and down his face. His hooves, horn and hair are all coal black, except where demarcated by the pearl, and there they are bright copper. His left eye is pale sage, and his right dark forest. Free takes after his sire in build, being far leaner and longer limbed than his dayan-turned-unicorn mother. However, a few of his dam’s traits show through; the fore part of his mane stands up a few inches before flopping over in an unruly mess, and almost the whole length of his tail has a fringe of long, fine hairs that sprout into a full, thick tassel.
Personality: Freewind is a very smart, somewhat prickly and occasionally abrasive sort who loves to learn things for the sake of learning them. He's highly intelligent and not always very good at being social, despite being raised amongst so many. He'll snip at those who interrupt him when he's got his mind focused on something, and will occasionally chide those who ask him questions he thinks they should already know the answer too. He's a supportive big brother, though, and even if he grouses and grumbles, he's usually willing to help any of them out whenever they need it. Free is also quite brave, even of situations that scare him silly. He suspects that he's often afraid due to the fact that because of his intellect, he's much more aware of his own mortality than most. Living on the Delta, where flash-floods and other hazards often require much teamwork and dangerous rescues, he's often one of the first to put himself to the hazard (even if he whines about it the whole while).
Background: Half a score of years ago, a plains born stallion called Kickdust found himself meandering the mare's back in the company of a mare called Cloversnip with whom he'd danced, their infant foal Rushlight and two others who he found fond company. These happy travelers came upon a group of hornless, solid-hoofed strangers and knew at once to escort them to the sacred waters of the Ringdancers. Sometime after, several of his companions and some of the Daya departed, but Kickdust found himself quite entranced by one of the Da mares, called Karrayeh, who returned his affection. Finding out she was with foal, he decided (along with Cloversnip and their colt) to escort the remaining Dayan to the shores of the Delta. Despite being born upon the haycorn-blanketed plains, he became entranced by the lands at river's end, and there he and the others chose to stay. The birth of he and Karrayeh's colt, Freewind, cemented his decision.
When Freewind was born, he was doted upon by all of those mares and stallions –and the one gelding – who came together at the Delta to form his loose family unit. He was the first foal born amongst them (his elder half-brother having traveled with his parents to the Delta) and was treated with parental affection and concern from all of them. As a result of being raised this way, Freewind was surrounded by those who constantly wanted to teach him things and who also spoiled him a bit too much. He was indulged when it came to his desires for knowledge and often got himself into trouble seeking it out. Many was the time that one of the mares or stallion's of his small group had to 'rescue' him from his own adventures.
Oddly, of all his 'siblings' (related by blood or not), the unicorn he finds himself closest to is Duck. He suspects that's because despite Duck being so much younger, he's also willing to listen to Free when he wants to ramble, and he hardly ever interrupts. Over the past few seasons, Free has felt a restlessness growing within him. He's decided that he needs to get away from the relative security of his family group and head out into the rest of the world to learn all that he can.

Cast

Name:Truename - Ca’destiel
Name - Cast
Current Plainsdweller Name - Salvation (known to few)
Gender:Stallion
Age:Unicorn
Species: At time of intro (2010) he is 9
Most Likely Found: In the Pan Woods
Abilities: Skilled in survival on the plains and taking care of his mate
Family:Mate – Deen. Sire - Godden, Dam - An'nat, Siblings: 3 elder brothers - Lui'fer - 16, Miicel & Gaib - 12, and 1 younger brother, Raifel - 5
Other Relations: Shoulder-friend and Brother-in-law - Shem, Friends & mentors: Singer, Ell
Description: Cast is just a bit below average height, slender and lightly muscled and has a thick, short, unevenly cropped mane that his mate keeps trimmed. He is a dramatically marked pintaloosa. His base body color is a pale taupe that shades to dark Prussian blue then black at his points. Three legs have white socks, while the right front has a longer, irregular stocking that chases up the backside.
Various tobiano markings cross his back and barrel, chest and neck, and a wide white stripe starts just above his horn and works its way down most of his face. His rump is heavily spattered in deep, indicolite blue appaloosa spotting that gets progressively thicker as it moves down and merges into the black of his legs, and thins out over his flanks and barrel to a few random spots here and there on his shoulders, neck and head.
His horn and hooves are gleaming silver, and his eyes are a bright, earnest shade of cobalt. His mane, tail and beard are all black, except where they touch the white of his paint markings, and there the hair is a dark syenite.
Personality:Cast is calm, rather quiet and tends to be an observer, rather than a talker. He's not always comfortable in social situations, sometimes has a tendency to be awkward around others, and doesn't always realize when he's acting oddly or making others uncomfortable. He's particularly obtuse about things like personal space and sometimes says things aloud that would be better kept to himself.
He's slowly growing out of much of this, though, under the right influences. And despite these shortcomings, he is fiercely loyal and caring and giving of himself. He will put himself to any hazard if it means keeping someone he cares about from being hurt - either physically or emotionally. Due to his upbringing, the strength of his faith is something that Cast struggles with, though this is yet another thing that he's slowly coming to terms with.
Background: Cast's sire and dam were quite staid and normal Ringdancers in the years before Cast was born; raising their first son and their twin colts in the traditional manner of those bound to the Ring. But when their eldest son, Lui'fer, spurned the Ring and its' teachings to run renegade during his pilgrimage, they feared that they must have sorely displeased Alma. As a result they became almost obsessively devout. They were quick to believe that most things that happened to them, good or bad, were the will of Alma, and that the Mother-of-All must be always respected and appeased. They kept a watchful eye on Cast's twin brothers, Miicel and Gaib, and when Cast was born, he was subject to the same scrutiny. To put a hoof out of line was risking the wrath of Alma. Cast was very rarely allowed to socialize with other fillies and colts for fear that they might tempt him into blasphemy.
In addition, from early on they believed that Cast was 'blessed by Alma' as he showed an aptitude towards dreaming. What his family had trouble understanding was that while Cast occasionally got glimpses of the future - they were very ephemeral and confusing in nature, and often served no purpose. Why, they wondered, would he so frequently dream of some strange stallion and not of his own family? They would often insist that Cast must have displeased Alma, else his visions would be more beneficial, and were quite regularly disappointed in their middle son. Miicel and Gaib were both skilled warriors, and - fearful after having watched their elder brother 'go wild' - extremely obedient. Whenever Cast questioned his parents or what they deemed as Alma's will - which he did far too often for their liking - he was reminded that he ought to be more like his brothers. When Godden and An'nat's final child was born, another colt they called Raifel, and he too was gifted as a dreamer, they were apt to ignore Cast completely lest his heretical ways bring Alma's disapproval.
Following Endingfire, a battle that Cast himself was too young to participate in, his family relocated to the Hallow Hills. Some of his parents pressure eased (after all, Alma must have been truly pleased with all her children to grant them victory in such a battle) and Cast was left to his own devices more often than not. Though still lacking in social skills, he trained as a warrior and was offered the opportunity to join their ranks. It was during the night of his initiation that Cast finally had a dream that seemed to have some meaning. He saw himself, surrounded by the vast openness of the mare's back, standing at the shoulder of another. Though he could make out little of the color or form of the other figure, he knew it was the muted green stallion he'd witnessed all through his colthood, and the scene filled him with an overwhelming rush of peace and tranquility. The morning after he was initiated into the Ring, Cast left the Hallow Hills and sought to find the one who would bring him that peace of mind.
It was not long after that Cast came upon the dark, ever-green stallion Deen, in the midst of an attack by wild dogs. He hauled Deen away from the fray, nursed him back to health and fell in love. Despite their best efforts to drive each other crazy the two have been together ever since.

Thistle

Name:Prairie Fire (as given by his Dam)
Plainsdweller Name: Currently Thistledown (Thistle). Previous names: Honeycomb, Autumn, Flametail, Amberskin and Firewithers
Name: Thistle
Gender:Stallion
Age:19
Species:Unicorn
Most Likely Found:In the Pan Woods or the Near Plains
Abilities: More than capable of defending himself in combat - though he usually avoids it.
Family: : Dam - Siltstone, Sire - Amberstride, Half-Brother - Palewind Blew (Lew)
Other Relations:Several other half-siblings - though he does not know any of them. No offspring of his own.
Description:: Built for speed more than combat, Thistle is lean and sturdy-legged. He's a bit narrow through the chest and long in the barrel, and has a surprisingly elegant head. He is the color of rich, amber honey with teak-colored points. Three of his legs are marked almost to the knee with buff colored stockings, and there's a stripe of the same color on his face. A frosted appaloosa, his back is dusted with this same creamy color, and here and there spots of amber and honey can be found. The hooves on his socked legs are peach, while his horn and one hoof are oaken. His mane, tail and beard all shade from amber to auburn to dark russet. His eyes are slate blue.
Personality:Thistle, as he goes by for the time being, is a rather distracted creature. He flits from band to band, never content to settle with the same group for long. Many think him rude or even dim, as he has a tendency to lose interest in conversations midway through. He doesn't mean to do this, it's just that he finds concentration difficult and even the smallest thing can sap his attention. He's a caring sort, though, and tries to do his best to be a good friend and companion. He's not too scatter-brained to know when he's not wanted, however, and when he senses that others have tired of putting up with him, he moves on. Born to a dam with a bit of a flighty nature, particularly when it came to naming her offspring, Thistle was never very pleased by his birth name. In the tradition of the Plainsdwellers when he was old enough he chose his own name. He is easily enamored of new names though, and should he encounter someone who calls him something that strikes his interest, he's apt to change his name then and there. His latest comes from a mare who told him that his pale blanketing looked like a layer of thistledown covering his back, and thus a new name was selected.
Background:Thistle's entry into the world was a difficult one for both himself and his dam. A spring cough settled in Siltstone's chest during her pregnancy and, try as she might, she could not shake it. It weakened her enough that by the time of Thistle's birth, she almost didn't survive the delivery. The labor took hours and the large colt only took his first breath with the intervention of a very skilled midwife who insisted upon staying with Siltstone through her final weeks. The midwife expected that Thistle (Prairefire, as he was called then) might not survive very long, but he rallied despite her concerns.
To make up for those first few difficult months it seemed, Thistle grew strong and healthy after that and hardly ever troubled his dam. If he was quiet for a foal, none remarked on it since he spoke clear and well when he did speak; and if he'd stop at odd moments to wander off after flitting leaves or hopping insects, they assumed he was just being curious. It was only later as he grew into a half-grown that his mother realized that her son's distraction was more than mere colts-play. He genuinely seemed to have trouble focusing on anything for very long. Every healer that Siltstone queried could find nothing physically wrong with the young colt, though they suggested that perhaps his difficulty was not something that could be understood or treated with herbs and poultices.
For a long while, Siltstone kept her son close, worried that he'd not be able to protect himself from the continual dangers encountered upon the plains. But as he grew and matured into a handsome stallion, she realized that this lack of focus made up for itself in other ways. Thistle is quick to notice danger and skilled at running carefully to avoid it. He picks up on scents and sounds as fast as the most adept scouts. He's not at all unintelligent - though sometimes others have a hard time seeing that - and in fact is quite quick to pick up on new skills and to remember even the smallest bit of conversation. Eventually, Siltstone let go of her protectiveness and ushered her son into the world on his own, as befitting one of the free folk. Having spent the last dozen years mostly on his own, Thistle has learned how to focus his concentration, and done much to master his wandering thoughts. He tends to roam just for the sake of it, and likes to find new and interesting people to keep him company along the way.
Blush

Name: Truename: Blush of Dawn
Name: Blush
Gender:Mare
Age:7
Species:Unicorn
Most Likely Found:On the Near Plains, close to the Hallow Hills
Abilities:A capable warrior, if untried
Family:Family: Sire - Darryn, Dam - Glory, Siblings: Younger brother - Redden (suckling foal)
Other Relations: Several other relatives and friends in the Hallows
Description:Blush is very svelte and feminine mare with long legs, a slender neck and a dished face. She's a lovely golden-yellow palomino with sunflower hues on her topline and pale blond along her belly. These sun-warm colors burn to brown then black at her knees before being cut off by milk-cream socks. A stripe of the same milky color flows down the dish of her face into a muzzle that matches her knees, and her eyes are a dusky lavender. She gets her name from rose-pink hue that flushes her coat along her cheeks, neck, shoulders, barrel and flanks, looking as though blush-reddened skin peeks through from beneath. Her mane and tail, beard and tassels are all very thick, tousled, silky hair of cream, while her horn and hooves are the pink of newly budded rosehip flowers.
Personality:Blush is a young mare just coming into her own. The daughter of two singers, Blush spent her whole life surrounded with songs and lays of heroic stallions and brave warrior-mares. She's a bit of a dreamer as a result, though more in the sense that she's fond of daydreaming than anything else. She's rather obsessed with the idea that there's some bold adventure and perhaps even a tragic romance awaiting her, if she's only able to find it. She tends to fall madly in love at the tamp of a hoof, and then let her affections flitter on to the next heroic figure to catch her eye. Despite being a very comely young mare, she's quite oblivious to her own charms, and even more oblivious to the charms of those who might pursue her.
Background: Born to ringdancer parents in the Hallow Hills shortly after they were won back, Blush's foalhood was blissfully normal. Her sire's life had been saved during Endingfire by a pair of Free folk, and in their honor he and his mate gave their firstborn a name in the tradition of the plainsdwellers. There is no story Blush has heard more often than that of Birchwood and Greymane, the mare and stallion who drove off two fierce wyvern after her father had taken a blow from one that caused him to stumble on the loose shale and twist his shank.
Despite having a pair of singers as parents, Blush is quite inept at the skill herself. She just does not have the voice for it. Instead she's done as most of her brethren do, and trained with the warriors. Only newly made a warrior just this past spring, Blush is eager to prove herself, but she's also rather enamored of the idea of seeking out her own adventure. To that end, she has been venturing further and further from the loose confines of the Hallow Hills; lately even being so bold as to stay away for a day or two. Despite this wanderlust, Blush is also a bit of a homebody. Her dam has only recently given birth to a second child, a colt called Redden, and she'd be loathe to stay away from him for too long. Given the right incentive though, it's possible she might consider leaving behind the Hills for a time.

Whitecrest

Name: Truename: Whitecrest
Name: Whit
Gender:Stallion
Age:13
Species: Unicorn
Most Likely Found: In the Pan Woods, Near Plains or the Vale
Abilities:A skilled warrior and tracker.
Family:Sire - Galesong, Damn -Flatstride (deceased), Full-sister - Windfroth (9), Half-brother (by Galesong) Tidebreaker (7)
Other Relations:None that he is aware of.
Description: Whit is a big, strong-bodied fellow, a bit thickset in the neck with sturdy legs and a broad chest. He's a striking stormy, blue-grey, dapple-bay tobiano. His body is a steel blue with charcoal points, pale undersides and a sooty topline. Small spots of slightly darker hue dapple over his neck, back, shoulders and flanks. Foam-white tobiano markings with jagged points cover the whole of his neck down to his withers, most of his rump, splash along his belly, cover each leg to some extent, and dramatically mark his face. Where the white covers, any of his hair is the same frothy white including his mane, tail and tassels. His beard and eartufts are the same color as his coat. His hooves and horn are shimmery grey, and his eyes polished jade
Personality: : Though born on the Mare's back to quite traditional Free folk, Whit would likely have fit in better amongst the Ringdancers. He sees himself as a warrior, and identifies well with those born within the Ring. He's a quiet, rather stoic stallion who can be prone to sullenness and brooding. He is absolutely terrible at talking about his feelings or anything remotely personal, and will often deflect any such discussion with sarcasm or his own rather odd sense of humor. He isn't always so moody, however, and can often find amusement in the simplest things. He enjoys spending time in the company of other stallions, being athletic and sparring and racing. Though he's not built for it as some might be, he exults in the simple pleasure of speeding over the windswept plains, going as fast as his body can manage. It's difficult for him to get close to anyone but those few who he can call friend are able to glimpse the kind and compassionate nature he hides beneath a warrior's facade. He is definitely the type that would put himself in harms way to protect someone else, and he has a tendency to feel responsible for things even when they come to pass through no fault of his own.
Background: For Plains folk, Whit's parents spent quite a bit of time in each others' company. His early colthood was spent with the both of them traveling always together and in small bands, and even when they parted ways in later years - and he ended going with one or the other - they would still meet up again quite regularly. As a result, he had a very close relationship with both his parents and could usually be found in the company of one of them. And when the two had a second foal, a filly called Windfroth, they spent the first two years of the filly's life as a family.
At just over seven years of age, he was again journeying at the shoulder of his sire and several other kin, when word reached them that Flatstride had been injured. Immediately he and Galesong hastened to be with her. It was a tragic injury. Flatstride, Windfroth and a companion of theirs had been traversing the edge of narrow ravine when the footing became unstable and all three were caught in the collapse of rock and sand. Windfroth managed to scramble through the tumbling stones and skree and escape relatively unscathed, but Flatstride took a bad fall that shattered a rear hock, and their companion's neck was snapped by the rocks. Healer's were fetched by the fastest runners, but they could do little to mend the mare's limb. Whit and both his sire and sister stayed with Flatstride, assisting her as best they could. The brought her food and herbs for the pain and supported her bodily between them to carry her close to water. Unfortunately, the break was bad enough that infection set in, and she slipped away slowly.
Distraught after the loss, both Whit and his sire took their anger and sadness out on each other. They fought so often and so vehemently that Galesong finally drove his son away, lashing out in his grief and blaming him for Flatstride's death. Whit took this dismissal to heart and hasn't seen his sire since that time, though he occasionally hears word of both him and his sister. He spent the next few years chasing from one end of the vast plains to the other, never allowing himself to get close to anyone. He often travelled with small bands of stallions, and whenever he came across any who came from the Ring, he journeyed with them as long as he was able, learning what he could. Lately he's come to the realization that traversing the plains to outrun his grief is no way to live, and has been considering the idea of making a home for himself in the Vale.
Fregg

Name:Truename: Frey’agh
Name: Fregg (called Feylegs by his dam)
Gender: Stallion
Age:8
Species: Unicorn
Most Likely Found: In the Hallow Hills or on the Far Plains
Abilities:Trained as a warrior and herbalist apprentice to the Healer
Family:Sire – Fra’bn, a copper and cream paint. Dam – Irren, a sooty caramel bay - deceased.
Other Relations: None
Description: Fregg is a sooty copper bay whose main body is a rich, deep copper that shades to black at his points and along his topline with paler tender areas. He has two high, irregular stockings of cream on both front legs, a broad stripe of the same soft cream that narrows between his eyes and nostrils, and a spot of cream on his mouth and chin that drips down into his beard. His mane, tail tassel and ear tufts, as well as the feathers on his rear legs are all rich ebony. His horn shades from a dark copper that matches his rear hooves, to a brighter shade the same as his fore hooves, and his eyes are a leafy, olive green.
Personality: Fregg is a happy-go-lucky sort of fellow that always has a friendly word and a kind smile for those around. He’s young and eager to please and just generally pleasant to be around. He’s got a good mind for recalling small details and this helps him immensely in his study of herb and plant lore.
Background:Fregg was born shortly before the battle exodus from the Vale to the Hallow hills. He has very little memory of those days, as he was little more than a toddling foal at his mother’s hip, but occasionally recalls brief flashes of a long journey and waiting with his dam and the strangeness of the ashfall. He was raised in the blissful peace that followed in the Hills and knew a truly peaceable colthood. When he was old enough, he did as all other foals and fillies his age, and trained with the warriors, but after his mother took ill and he helped to nurse her until she ultimately succumbed to her illness, he also found himself driven by the need to help and fascinated by the healers art.
Unfortunately, Fregg doesn’t have the stomach for dealing with injury. The first time he stood witness to Teki patching up a bloody, scraped shank, Fregg felt an odd sensation wash over him. He awoke sometime later to find out he’d fallen over, as one asleep. He quickly discovered that the sight of blood and injury causes his stomach to churn and his head to spin. Awash with disappointment and sorrow that he’d not be able to pursue his interest, Fregg was subsequently overjoyed when one of the healers-in-training suggested that he focus his studies on the herbs and poultices and tinctures used by the healers to treat their patients.
He’s been apprenticed to one of Teki’s acolytes to study herbcraft ever since. While he completed the ritual to become a warrior, Fregg has recently decided that he needs to set out on a pilgrimage of his own. He’d like to head back to the Vale where he was born and to learn of all the flora along the way, and also spend some time amongst the Free People, and see what they might have to teach him.

Desperation

Name: Truename: Rimeveil
Name: Desperation (Des, or Desper)
Gender:Stallion
Age:12
Species:Unicorn
Most Likely Found:The Far Plains or the Near Plains
Abilities:Fast runner and the fighting/evasion skills of a plainsdweller
Family:Sire, Rushtail. Dam, Frostfoot. Sibs: unknown at this time.
Other Relations:Colored a sleek goldish-tan tempered by silvery grey soft areas and pointed in coal, Desperation's most striking feature is the blanket of snowy white that splays down the whole of his neck and back in jagged, irregular points. A tobiano, he is also marked white on all four legs and by a wide stripe that covers his left eye and curves over the front of his muzzle. His feathers and beard follow the coloration of the body they sprout from, but his mane, tail and ear tufts are all dark umber, except where his paint markings touch, and there the hair is a dark phthalo blue. His hooves and horn are dark cobalt and his eyes are cerulean.
Personality:Despite his name, Desperation is a mild-mannered and quite upbeat fellow. He’s friendly and open to everyone and enjoys meeting new folk. He can sometimes be obnoxiously flirtatious and has a bit of a playful streak, but he’s as much content to sit back and listen as he is to chatter on endlessly. He grew up in an atmosphere of humble delights and appreciation for simple joys like warm shoulders on dark nights and the feel of the breeze through his mane and the cool freshness of a burbling spring.
Background: A true child of the Free People, Desperation – then dubbed Rimeveil - was born to a mare called Frostfoot who dallied with a handsome stallion called Rushtail at a Long Dance. Frostfoot and Rushtail only travelled together a short while, each parting to journey with new companions, but their brief union was joyous and both celebrated that it bore fruit. Ever on the move as a colt, and in the company of a very gregarious, travel-fevered dam, Desperation was a bright-eyed colt who was fawned over by many a doting mare and brotherly stallion.
At his first gather, and after putting his hooves to earth in his very first Dance, Desperation attracted the attention of a comely young mare. She flirted just as shamelessly as he, but when he made no move to follow after she teasingly rebuked him, she returned to chide him for not playing the game right. He was puzzled when she finally turned down his companionship for the night, citing the fact that he had ‘no desperation in him’ and that she wanted to be pursued by one who yearned for her. In jest, his companions took to calling him Desperation after he recounted the tale the next morn.
As a nickname, it stuck, and he finds it an amusing tale to tell when he meets new people. Many folk who first hear it assume that some dark tragedy colors his past, and he may sometimes tease at such a thing, but is quick to set them right. Desperation seeks out little more in his life than the simple pleasures and enjoyments that make him happy and he’s always on the lookout for more people to know and call friend.

Lorne

Name: Truename: A’loren
Name: Lorne
Gender:Stallion
Age:13
Species:Unicorn
Most Likely Found:In the Hallow Hills
Abilities:In the Hallow Hills
Family:Sire: Cald, Dam: Liz’seh. Younger sister, Cadma.
Other Relations:Other Relations: Friends: Dom, Cade. Acquaintances: Puck
Description:His is the perfect warrior's body: sleek, ropy muscles are banded over a broad chest and shoulders that taper into a long barrel towards sturdy haunches and strong, but slender legs. Lorne is a pale-sided apricot buckskin with dappling over his shoulders and haunches, and points that shade to dark umber. He's got four relatively even, if irregular white socks and a thin stripe and snip. His beard, tassel, ear tufts and mane are all rich, dark auburn while his fetlock feathers are snowy white. His horn is amber, his hooves vanilla creme and his eyes are a wintery blue-grey.
Personality: Lorne is a dutiful, loyal warrior who, while adept at being in command, excels at more of a supportive role. Based on an incident from his past in which he acted on brash impulse, he is reluctant to firmly trust his own judgment and prefers to look to others for instruction. With someone to guide him or to work beside him, however, he's a foe to be reckoned with. When not occupied with all matters associated to the protection and preservation of the Hallow Hills, Lorne is an athletic fellow who enjoys engaging with others in games and racing and sparring. He is affable, easy-going and has a gentle sense of humor. Despite being outgoing and well-liked, Lorne has only a few true, close friends and has difficulty trusting others enough for them to get very close. He’s never off-putting, but others aren’t aware of his reticence as he’s an excellent listener so if they don’t notice that he doesn’t do much of his own talking, that’s fine by him. He's also still a bachelor, likely as a result of this restraint, but gave up on attending the summer trysting some time ago, feeling it a pursuit better left to the young.
Background:Lorne was Vale born and raised by loving parents and trained in the manner of his folk to be a warrior of the ring. The buckskin stallion never put a hoof out of line and dutifully learned all that was expected of him. Newly bearded and made a warrior, Lorne was one of those in attendance at the courting shores when Prince Jan disappeared and was thought lost. During the long, difficult months that followed, Lorne initially looked to his sire and dam for guidance. They eschewed the Kings talk, seeking council with the elders and more even-minded friends, and did their best to stay neutral. It was a difficult time for the half-grown warrior, as he felt duty-bound to obey the word of his king, but also swayed by the actions of his parents whom he'd always looked to for guidance.
Ultimately he got caught up with some of the other young stallions who fancied themselves Korr's devoted, and he began to act against his parents will. While not officially one of Korr's wolves, he believed that by getting in the good graces of those close to the King's influence, it might help his own family's situation. This put him at odds with his sire and dam, who felt that his duty was better spent trying to find food and help those in need, than curry favor and hope for whatever meager scraps might fall his way. It wasn't until his own sister, barely more than a suckling filly, died from privation that Lorne realized the folly of his ways. He turned his back on those who’d called him friend, and was quick to learn what that mean as he was jeered and chided and even attacked bodily for his betrayal. His change of heart ended up saving his life, as he was to have been part of the party that tracked the wayward Tek, and were almost all lost to a wicked flash flood.
Despite their grief, his sire and dam forgave their son his recklessness, and he’s done his best to be a good and dutiful son ever since. When the battle to reclaim the Hallows was fought, Lorne stood side-by-side with his sire in combat, while his dam waited upon the near grasslands with his newborn sister, Cadma. Lorne knows that his parents worry over the fact that despite several years attending the courting trek, he’s never found someone to call his mate. His dam is ever trying to introduce him to pretty young mares. He tries to assuage their worry, and will sometimes humor his mother and spend time with them, but the truth is that he doesn’t feel as if he’s missing anything from his life right now. Maybe someday he’ll meet someone… but until then he’s quite content to let duty and responsibility be the central focus of his life.

Lantis

Name:Lantis or Lan
Gender:Stallion
Age:22
Species: Da (who has supped from the mere)
Most Likely Found:Wandering the Mare’s Back
Abilities:Was quite adept at hauling carts when he was still amongst the Firekeepers.
Family:None that he's aware of.
Other Relations:None
Description:As a Da, Lantis was gelded early due to his spectacularly unremarkable coloring and ungainly build. He's oddly long-legged, despite being of a larger, draft stock and this lends him a rather coltish appearance even at his age. Resembling something between a silver dapple and a chocolate palomino, Lantis's body is a very plain fallow brown shade with faint dappling and points that shade to charcoal. His hooves are the color of dark iron and his eyes warm amber. Long years of being hitched to a wagon have left worn, lacey patterns where the harness and gear rubbed him raw time and again; it's especially noticeable over his withers, shoulders, hips, croup, brow and the bridge of his nose. His brush-like mane and short-docked tail are dull wheat. Supping from the mere gained him a horn of Prussian blue, and turned his many hairless and white-grown scars and even streaks of his mane and tail the same rich blue-green shade. The mere also gave him something equally miraculous: it restored his stallion-hood.
Personality:: This big and burly fellow spent so much of his lift doing the bidding of others, never knowing free-will of his own, that even now he finds it difficult to know what to do with himself. He's a bit shy and stand-offish around strangers and folk he's only newly met, and is only recently beginning to break out of his shell. Never having been much of a conversationalist, as common working Daya weren't the most social creatures, he sometimes freezes up when called upon to speak. Lantis is working hard to overcome his past, however, and fighting to break through his more subservient nature. He's also rather anxious to meet mares, since as a gelding he'd never had any urges towards them. Now that the mere has restored him, he's a bit like a young colt just noticing the fillies for the first time. He's ungainly and uncouth (and has gotten a hoof to the ribs on more than one occasion for unintentional faux pas toward the fairer gender) but, he's a genuinely kind and caring soul who just needs to learn how to express himself.
Background: Lantis lived the life of a common working Dayan. He remembers very little of his early years, just some brief memories of others his own age, and faded recollections of the shock and pain of being cut. Most of his life is a blur of the years he spent strapped to a cart, hauling various loads of heavy goods day after day, season after season. He'd known several masters, some of them cruel and heavy with the whip, others kinder with gentle hands, but all of them worked him hard, as was his station in life.
It wasn't until a few years after the chaos that was brought about by a certain black unicorns visit to the City that Lantis' life underwent a drastic change. He was dismissed by his master, and sent with many other commoners to lands far from the city. The walls were low there, and flimsy and many an eager-minded Daya broke free from those confines to see what lay beyond. Lantis struck out with several others and discovered a rocky shore littered with the bones of cast-off daya. He and the others followed the shoreline, swam for many miles and spent long days and nights huddled together for comfort and companionship.
They eventually came upon those who were like the night-dark one that had caused such upheaval in the city. These new folk, calling themselves unicorns, showed Lantis and his kith much kindness. Recently he made his way to the mere where he not only took his drink, but was encouraged to let its waters rinse over his scarred, battered hide. To his profound disbelief and joy, not only did the former gelding find a horn sprouting from his head, and his scars healed over in miraculous color, but that which had been taken from him as a colt was renewed. Now with a stallion's blood singing in his veins, Lantis is nervous but eager to know more of this new and wonderful world that he now calls home.

Gearran - Retired

Name: Gearran
Gender: Stallion
Age: 8
Species: Dayan/Unicorn
Most Likely Found: Gearran is currently residing on the Near Plains with his parents.
Abilities: Gearran is a young plainsdweller, so he knows enough to protect himself.
Family: Sire - Gyrheth (a Da from the City of Fire), Dam - Duskfall
Other Relations: Shoulder Friend - Cocoro, Friends - Arazulo (Alanaria), Xeral, Neo, Indri, Caspia, Syrte, Fireweave, Sula (all plainsdwellers he has traveled with)
Description: Gearran is an autumnal colored stallion: most of his body is colored a tawny gold, which fades into a burnt orange at the knees and hocks and then shades to a dark russet at his cannons down through the length of his overly-feathered legs. His mane and full tail are a verigated green - starting at a pale sage then gradiating slowly to dark olive at the tips. His horn and hooves are a gleaming earthy, umber and his eyes are heather grey.
Personality: A truly gentle soul, Gearran is friendly and vivacious and gregarious. Though his early life upon the plains was somewhat sheltered by his sire and dam, he's since grown more adventurous and curious about the world around him. He is always friendly and open to new people and new situations.
Background: Gearran's colt hood was a happy one, and when he reached an age to move on his own, he did so with his parent’s blessing. It was during these early days away from his sire and dam that Gearran met up with another young stallion of bright lemon yellow with lime dapples called Cocoro. He and Cocoro became fast friends and the wound up traveling with a small group of equally youthful and exhuberant unicorns. Eventually this motly group found themselves at a longdance. It was here that Gearran and one of his companions, a lovely blue-brindle mare named Caspia, came together and danced the longdance to its end. They parted the next morning as friends, as is the way of the free people, and he rejoined Cocoro, though the others of the band were not to be found.

Heading off at the side of his shoulder friend once more, Gearran and Cocoro came upon a stallion called Razu who was suffering from amnesia and seemed desperate to find a mare. They returned with him to the site of the long dance they'd attended and to their surprise, managed to find the mare he sought. She turned out to be his mate, Alanaria who also had thier half-grown filly Xeral with her. Gearran and Cocoro seemed to bond quickly with Xeral, while her parents reunited, but it was while watching those two reconnect, that Gearran began to wonder about his own parents. He'd left them so suddenly and his memories seemed to suggest that perhaps their parting hadn't been quite as 'blessed' as he'd originally thought. Overcome with the need to see them again, though he knew it would upset Cocoro deeply, Gearran bade farewell to his new friends and headed off to find his parents once again.