Taarna
To defend: this is the pact.
But when life's gone, and damage done,
To avenge: this is the pact.
Taarna may or may not have disappeared into the witness protection program of the Miskatonic Brotherhood. Her existence may or may not be a closely held secret. She may or may not be your 6'1“ silver haired pterodactyl riding neighbor. She may or may not have undergone cosmetic surgery and be working as a dental hygenist in Des Moine. She may or may not be only a dream.
F-Beast Rider L28 NG Human
Character History
She was a Taarakian warrior. Since the age of five she had been trained in the martial skills which were the hallmark of the Taarakian race and the cornerstone of its culture. This room was the heart of her home and life. Numerous weapons and armor–swords, axes, halberds, bills, pikes, pole-axes, spears, bows, maces, helmets, and shields–hung from the far wall. After stretches and a warm up, she selected a sword from a rack and proceeded to the pell. For centuries, since the time of Taarak himself, the Taarakians had flourished through the consummation of pacts with city-states. The pacts bound them to defend their clients in times of attack in exchange for food, land, and social status. These arrangements afforded the municipalities the ability to develop economically and politically without the burdens of raising, training, and maintaining large, expensive standing armies. For the Taarakians, the duty to defend was not an arm's length contract. It was a moral obligation which undergirded the entire fabric of their religion, society and culture. It was, quite simply, a way of life. Defensive warfare was their sole purpose, the sine qua non of their existence. The Taarakians eventually became a powerful warrior caste, honored and revered for their fighting qualities and strict adherence to duty. They never became sufficiently prolific, however, to safeguard large, politically unified territorial regions. Even if they had, political and territorial rivalry among the city-states prevented the establishment of a larger political order. Eventually, the ranks of the Taarakians dwindled. A series of decade-long droughts triggered population shifts which disrupted the fragile political balance. As the availability of water diminished and caused the migrations of thousands of people, the cities began to fight among themselves over territorial claims to the most fertile lands, using forces raised from their own citizenry. This, in turn, broke the socio-economic order of the Taarakians as the feuding cities called upon them for help. A devastating downward spiral of social and economic strife and disease ensued as the cities, weakened by the fighting among themselves, also became increasingly vulnerable to the attacks of nomad peoples trying to find lands to sustain themselves. The Taarakian race splintered and withered, unable to withstand these manifold pressures. As a consequence of the capricious processes of fate, over time Taarna found herself–to her unfolding disbelief and bewilderment–in the unenviable position of being the last of her race.