[J'lyara]

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The Beginning of Spring (II), in the Month of Immanis, Era XIV
The 2nd Era of the Regency of Milo L'Evienne

Approximately Two Eras Prior:

It wasn't her imagination, she was certain of it now. Desparately tugging wet strands of hair from her eyes, she tried to focus on the path and steer clear of the trees heading for the Charisma Pass, but Whisperingfoot was getting anxious beneath her...and with good reason. The torrent of rain had come down so suddenly that the fast collection of water on the ground scarcely had a chance to soak into the dirt before more appeared, thus it was as if she and her beloved horse were trying to make it across a raging river...a small "river" but raging nonetheless. The hooves she could hear pounding the rain behind her seemed to come ever closer and she could just make out the muffled, angry voices demanding that she stop. Instinctively she knew, stopping wasn't an option. Tears stung her troubled eyes and fell only to merge with the constant pelting of dirt and rain on her usually pretty face. She'd been lucky she knew, months and months of travel without the protection of being with her husband, Palacrisis. How she longed for the comfort of his reassuring presence now. But she refused to embrace the fact that her luck had run out. She was on the outskirts of the Maevewood just before reaching the Charisma Pass, a notoriously dangerous place to be for travelers. But she'd thought... It didn't matter what she'd thought, chastising herself for a moment of weakness and fear, she dug her heels into Whisperingfoot's sides and willed him to move faster, “Yahhh! Yahhh!” She would never know what it was that hit her so hard in the middle of her back, but it was enough to send her falling awkwardly and forcefully from her speeding horse's back, the shock of the force causing Whisperingfoot to stumble and fall to the mud amidst the sickening sound of two cracks...bones breaking J'lyara was sure as she tried to maintain consciousness, the side of her head sporting a bloody gash as it lay against the large rock she'd fallen against. A horrific pain took over her throbbing head as she turned to try and see what was happening around her, burning rain immediately filling her eyes and making it hard. Whisperingfoot was mercifully being taken out of his misery and the sight of her beloved horse dying, rugged, half-masked men taking everything from her saddlebags, including her Imperial Visa, were the last things she saw before everything went black.

It had taken quite some time before Dara felt ready to leave her adopted family in Abestat. The Hollets had been good to her, very good, but the busy trade city had somehow not felt like home...not in the true sense.

She'd gone out of her way to show them how grateful she was for their having taken her in nearly two eras before when she'd finally managed to drag herself to the gates of the city from the tragic ordeal that had left her devoid of whatever her life had been before it. She'd awakened in the forest, covered in mud, a heavy feeling in her chest that kept her coughing, and no memory...at all of who she was.

The only link to her past that had remained, besides the tattered clothes on her back, had been a ring that fit snugly on the ring finger of her left hand. Looking down at it, as the ship fast approached the Harbor of Celsianna, she fingered the golden vine that she'd become used to daydreaming over. It looked to Dara to be an engagement ring perhaps because of it's unique design...or maybe a wedding ring but how could she be sure? She wasn't, but she hadn't been able to remove it from her hand either. Some day, she fervently hoped she would remember where the ring had come from...or more importantly, who had placed it on her finger.

But it had been two Eras now since that day and she still hadn't recalled her given name, only random flashes from what must have been her life seemed to plague her frequently. It had been a long process trying to get the Provisional Visa she now carried with her. Despite the fact that she could tell the Aedile in Abestat had been attracted to her, he'd made her wait several cycles while he tried to put on some form of investigation into her past. But no one in Abestat recognized her or had reported her missing and so he'd decided to go ahead and give her the Imperial Visa she badly needed, but with it being visibly marked as a provisional one so that her origins would continue to be investigated no matter where she went in the Empire.

Sighing some, Dara looked up as the ship began it's careful maneuver to the dock and she realized something, the entire time she'd been out on the water, aboard the ship, she'd been more at peace than she'd been for almost the entire time she'd been in Abestat. There was something soothing about the water, the dip and sway of being on the sea that calmed her soul. The thought of stepping off the boat filled her with trepidation, even though she could see it was an island of untold beauty spreading out before her wary eyes.

Carrying only one worn leather bag, and dressed in the simple clothing of a commoner, a quiet dress with a full skirt of soft, overwashed brown linen and a cream-colored chemise with a suitably brown bodice cinching her small waist...worn leather straps that seemed close to snapping, Dara stepped off the boat and was quickly ushered to the Cancello Del Passeggero, holding her Visa in one hand just like the others who had disembarked from the ship at the same time as she. Her hair, an uncommonly vibrant shade of red was swept up into a ponytail high atop her head, wisps that had wrested themselves free of the plain cream-colored clasp clinging to the sides of her moistened face, the faint trace of a medium-sized scar on the right top side near her hair line.

Grateful for every breeze that swished across her face, she smiled at the guard and handed him her Visa, waiting for him to inevitably notice the provision on it...as they always did.

This guard though, seemed quite taken with the worn nature of the straps on her bodice and so didn't notice right away, which did little to relieve Dara's trepidation. “Your name....Signora...?” His eyes seemed able to see straight through her clothing and she shifted uneasily in her boots.

“Dara...Dara Hollet, sir. I'm...I'm here to cater to my interest in learning how to paint...and...and maybe find out who I am.” She couldn't help but hope everytime she entered a different city that someone...somewhere would recognize her and finally fill in the numerous blanks in her memory. She'd heard that this might be a good place for inspiration...inspiration to create and fill the void that near constantly plagued her now.

He looked down at her Visa after her very odd response and furrowed his brow. “What's this? Only provisional...not sure if you're...well, Signora, you'll have to head straight over to the Thanal Tower from here. Announce your presence in the City and give them every detail about this Visa. Every detail Signora...don't leave out a one.”

Not wanting to give the guard any cause for alarm unnecessarily, she readily agreed and made her way on into the city...her mouth indeed dropping in awe at what she saw.