FL Bio for Masura Kurenin / Zaralyn - CCed by me, the amazingest person evah!

[Winter Mist]

 

http://idnar.gfxartist.com/artworks/96512

 

^  Character image, for referrence. Yay, i actually found the source! ^^

 

Handle: Jehaine

Character Name: Masura Kurenin (Masura Zaralyn)

Email address: amyante@hotmail.com

Division: Freelanders (the Kin)

Age: 84

Apparent age: 34

Gender: Female

Physical Description:

 

Masura stands at about 5 ft 7, and weighs approximately 134 pounds. Like her daughter, she has sleek blonde hair, falling down to the small of her back in length. Blue-green eyes, a small mouth and celestial nose frame an oval face, and her soft, fair skin and pale complexion give her a delicate appearance.

 

Clothing-wise, she prefers a mixture of white and black colors to accentuate her own natural skin and eye color. Though generally favoring dresses, she isn't that fussy when it comes to travel clothing, something that was only encouraged living in the Borderlands, this close to the Blight. She also has a necklace with an amethyst set in the middle, that's been in her family for generations.

 

Personality:

 

Though initially optimistic, her general mood has darkened somewhat after the supposed death of her husband. Her nature is still caring towards others, yet she can't suppress some degree of sadness creeping into her system every once in a while. Her impulsiveness has dampened over the years as well, making way for rational thought on the consequences of her actions. She still tends to listen more to her heart than her mind, but at least has the maturity to see whether she can be open about it, and when to keep a low profile. She has a moderate amount of courage and self-confidence, which enables her to follow through on her plans and face the consequences of her actions should things go horribly wrong.

 

Place of Birth/Raising: Jenaan, Malkier

 

Character History:

 

Masura was born as Masura Kurenin in Jenaan, Malkier, around 916 NE. With her home city being relatively near the Stairs of Jenaan, where the Trolloc hordes were fought back every year, it was effectively a large border fortress. With this in mind, it came as little to no surprise that the vast majority of the male population consisted of soldiers, with her own father among them.

 

Being a girl, her mother taught her how to read, write and effectively run a household. Though not too skilled in the way of actual weaponry, she is fairly decent with a dagger, though it should be mentioned that the majority of her experience in that field comes from cutting food for cooking. During her free time, she'd sneak out of the house to talk to the neighbours' son, Tavon. She liked the conversations the two of them had, where he didn't treat her like a girl. Well, not that she wasn't a girl, but it did get rather annoying at times to recieve the social version of a pat on the head whenever she wanted to know why none of the girls didn't get combat training while all the boys did.

 

Still, over the years Masura discovered that the conversations weren't the only thing she had started to like about Tavon. She'd find herself looking more and more forwards to another one of their conversations, until eventually her chores started to suffer from it. Her mother was able to tell what was going on in the mind of her daughter though, and had taken her aside for a small mother-to-daughter talk which confirmed her suspicions. After hearing about the more adult themed topics of life, Masura didn't see Tavon for a week afterward, blaming a persistant cold to remain indoors. Unable to deny her feelings, she still watched him from her bedroom window go through his daily forms though.

 

Deciding that this was it, she gathered all of her courage and stepped up to him, trying very hard not to think about what she was about to do. Blushing heavily, she blurted out she wanted him to be her first, her carneira. When Tavon almost dropped his sword from shock, Masura felt a vein throb in her temple. She had gone through all of this and he didn't even notice? The nerve! What did he think she was, a stone? She opened her mouth to give him the tongue-lashing of a lifetime, but was stopped when he accepted her offer. He accepted! Sure, custom pretty much forbade him from turning it down, but still... Whoa. Her anger forgotten, her mouth worked on a reply her mind failed to provide. She felt as if her blush could melt half the snow in the district.

 

That night, Tavon and Masura strengthened the bond between them as they confessed their love for one another -- be it a bit uneasy after just having slept with each other. Though she did find it amusing when he asked for her help in braiding his own hair into a daiori. It would soon appear that the Wheel wasn't done with them yet though, as Masura found herself with child a few weeks after their union. A few months later, when her stomach had already started to swell, the necessary arrangements for their marriage had been made, and the two were wed, Masura jokingly commenting on how she'd have to give Tavon's daiori to herself now. During the ceremony, she recieved the family heirloom necklace she wears to this day.

 

Five months later, their daughter was born, named after her mother Jerinia. By this time, Tavon's father had been killed in a Trolloc raid, and Tavon had become old enough to succeed him in the Malkeri army. Masura remained home with her daughter, waiting for him to return home while bringing young Jerinia over for a quick visit to the grandparents, a sick cousin, a recovering neighbour. She taught her daughter the things her mother taught her in turn, and it amazed her every time how much of Tavon she could recognise in the girl.

 

Always when Tavon returned, he'd tell Jerinia stories about all the things he'd seen during his travels. Sure, he left out the ugly bits and polished it all into a gleemans tale, but they were stories about battle and honor and how he was helping to keep Malkier safe. Masura didn't like stories like that one, claiming they were having a bad influence on the girl, but Jerinia didn't seem to mind so she never really found the need to turn it into an argument.

 

Still, it came as a complete surprise to her when Jerinia wanted to join the Army as well. She noticed Tavon glancing at her face -- she had traded her surprised look for a glare in the blink of an eye -- and he almost jumped into trying to convince his daughter that that wouldn't be such a good idea. Yet, Tavon was never really good when it came to dealing with women, and with a resigned sigh she chipped in before the argument got out of hand too much. She did allow Jerinia to dye her hair red though, as a silent reminder to Tavon to be more mindful of her advice next time. She did manage to have her change her mind from wanting to join the Aiel to becoming an Aes Sedai, something she was grateful for as Tar Valon seemed a lot less hostile than the Waste.

 

From the letters she recieved from her husband, the battles were getting harder, a large Trolloc host coming to reclaim the land which had been lost when half the Malkieri lances advanced north. It had only been because of a group of Aes Sedai present with them that their lines had held at all, and this was only the advance guard. Word was sent back to the capitol, and preparations were made to have most of its people reach safety while they would hold as long as they could at Herot's Crossing. Feeling worried for the safety of his family, Tavon arrived in person to explain the situation to his wife, and they agreed she would accompany her daughter to Tar Valon. Even if she would not be admitted, she would be safe, and it was the only place the girl'd willingly leave Malkier for.

 

With a heavy heart, she rode south with Jerinia, using her excitement about going to become an Aes Sedai as a decoy to prevent her from really thinking about leaving Malkier too much. When her daughter asked her if she could change the color of the ki'sain to red, she absently nodded, her thoughts too much with her husband to really pay attention to what the girl had asked. Still, when she noticed she didn't tell her to turn it back into 'unmarried' blue, as a silent reminder to herself to be more mindful of the present next time.

 

After a small incident concerning Jerinia pulling an Aes Sedai's sleeve, she felt relieved to hear her daughter had the spark. Having heard how long it took to generally become a full fledged Aes Sedai, she knew it'd be a long time before she'd be able to leave Tar Valon again, let alone think about returning to Malkier. She found a job in one of the Inns against food and board, and recieved the frequent letters her daughter sent her from within the Tower describing how she was progressing, and what she had gotten herself into this time.

 

Still, during an inevitable moment of boredom she decided to try out some of those lessons herself. Nothign would probably come of it, but it'd serve to pass time. Now, where was that letter again... Looking for the first of the letters, she found one describing how to make a gem flash softly. Holding her necklace up in the sunlight shining through her window, she turned it in the light so the reflection made it flash a couple of times. Raising an amused eyebrow when she thought she saw a faint afterglow -- a trick of the light, she guessed -- she lowered the necklace again and proceeded to another small test. Though ineffective, she certainly did find it an interesting passtime, and kept 'practising' as she tried to see her daughter doing the same on the other side of that bridge.

 

Unfortunately, a couple of months later she was in for the shock of her lifetime, and the candlewick she had been focusing on one light actually lit up. Actual, fire. Blinking, she figured it had to be a trick, and tried again. Though no flame appeared this time, there was most definitely smoke coming off of the wick. That very morning, she headed straight for Tar Valon, explaining to one of the Tower Guards almost in a panic that she could channel. An Aes Sedai arrived, sensing that she did indeed tell the truth, but as she had managed to guide herself into wieldign saidar she wasn't in danger like a wilder was. Being considered too old to join the White Tower, she was turned away again.

 

However, a few weeks later, a woman came to see her. Though strangely vague about her reasons, she hinted at helping her train her channeling ability, but she'd have to leave Tar Valon. After thinking about the offer for a couple of days, she arranged the facts. Aside from Jerinia whom, as a Novice, wasn't allowed into the city, she really had no reason to stay in Tar Valon herself. Additionally, if Jerinia had been training these past couple of years to be able to channel, who couldn't she? When the woman returned after a week, she accepted the offer, on the condition that she would still be able to write to her daughter. The woman agreed, as long as their secrecy would be kept, and the letters themselves would pass through their agents in the field.

 

Once again leaving her life behind, Masura left Tar Valon, heading for Ebou Dar.

 

----- Retro version ends HERE -----

 

It had been a couple of years since she arrived in what was called The Retreat. The letters between her and her daughter were still being sent back and forth, albeit at a slower pace due to the much further distance involved. She was always happy to read one of her letters though, and not once was her reply sent over a day later. Though she did feel bad about trying to act her age -- especially since she had stopped aging at 34 -- she did feel it was necessary in maintaining the secrecy of what she now knew as the Kin.

 

Light, but she felt proud about her daughter. How she said her potential in Fire could likely grow to be one of the strongest ones in the White Tower. How well she did in one class. How poorly she did in another. Enthousiasm radiated off of every page, and she loved her for it. She never forgot about her husband, couldn't bring herself to change the color of her ki'sain to white and move on. Malkier had fallen, and her husband with it, but the Borderlands still held, thank the Light, and even though she had no idea where her friends and family were now she still had her daughter.

 

Given that having the same last name as an Aes Sedai could potentially land her into trouble with the Whitecloaks -- troublesome bunch -- she had switched to using her maiden name again, but still used her married name in the letters she sent to Jerinia. There was no need to lie to her, after all.

[Tigara]

CCed!

[Jehaine]

Thanks for the CC ^_^