12th Circle Scholar Priestess of Dlamelish; Sorceress
Shekkara: "I get out of the raft and stretch."
Arkhane: "I forget what I was doing."
To Shekkara Tlakotani, nothing is impossible.
Here is a woman who truly has it all: looks, intelligence,
wealth, and an annoying habit of being right about the oddest
conspiracies. What does a young, bright, gorgeous, and rich
Tlakotani aspire to? One might say the Petal Throne, except that
she is not an Imperial Princess and nor is she that stupid.
Instead she has set her sights upon something more attainable:
becoming an undying wizard.
In the meantime, her friends and enemies must put up with a woman
who believes that the world revolves around her, except when it
revolves around her clan uncle: the Most Noble Prince Rereshqala.
Shekkara was a quiet, shy girl who declared herself Aridani solely
because being a good clan wife for some man (her childhood
betrothal) from wealthy but rural lineage would make it impossible
for her to become a scholar and study sorcery. ("I cannot
possibly marry him. For one, he lives far from Jakalla and in the
country! Cha! I would die of boredom. For another, I don't have
time for marriage! How can I study sorcery and law and history
while being a 'good clan girl' and bearing children?") As she was
blossoming from a bony and rather plain girl into a beautiful
young woman, her family did not mind so much as they thought
they'd be able to arrange for a more advantageous match. La!
Little did they know how difficult it would be arrange a match.
When the pressure to marry became too much, Shekkara left town.
Two trips to Livyanu, a failed caravan trip, and a third trip to
Livyanu where she traveled to the far side and fought for the
Livyani in their war against Tsolei left their mark on Shekkara.
She developed a taste for Livyani things (and men), a distaste for
caravans, and a liking of the sword. The pressure to marry started
up almost immediately upon her return from Tsolei, so Shekkara's
final coup was to join the Temple of Dlamelish. This guaranteed
her at least six months of no family pressure... at the price of tons of
drudgery. ("Me? Shekkara Tlakotani sweep halls and clean
latrines?")
At her Naming-Day ceremony, Shekkara had priests and priestesses
from the Temple of Hnalla. Although her family knew that she
wanted to join a temple in order to continue her studies, her
sudden conversion to Dlamelish was a shock to most, including
Prince Rereshqala who had taken an interest in her upbringing
since she was young. For Shekkara, the reason was simple: her
lifestyle had changed far too much over the past few years, and
switching to the Emerald Lady made it both easy and Lan for her to
do the many things she enjoyed.
She originally joined the Administrative branch of the temple, though
recently she switched over to the Scholar branch. (This bit came about
from the player's mistaken belief during character generation that
there were only two branches: Ritual and Adminstrative.) Her secret
interest in undying wizards dates from an unplanned visit to College
where she met Subadim the Sorcerer.
Shekkara's other interests include (not listed in any particular
order): history, sex, law, sex, sorcery, poetry, dueling (Jakalla
style -- we use Patrick Brady's write up about the "Jakalla Sword
Technique"), Livyanu, and sex. She will do anything for Prince
Rereshqala, prefers to stay away from Princess Ma'in, adores her
older brother Kotaru, and fancies herself in love with one
Qolyelmu hiSsanmirin of Sea Blue.
Currently, Shekkara is thinking that it's time she acquired a
wealthy and influential husband, but not Arkutu hiKurodu,
Kerdu of the Legion of the Armored Vision of Death and a Mriyan
of the Temple of Sarku, who has already expressed his interest
and whose clan (Dark Fear) is convinced that they will marry.
Her main objection to him is that he is from (and lives in) Penom.
Arkutu's current first wife hates Shekkara, and his certifiably
psychotic Molkar is obsessed with her. "There are only two things
that bring me joy: killing people and you." "Uh... how nice,
would you like more chumetl?"
For more about Shekkara, see
Shekkara's History
