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Sashaa Gaylewind Character Background

Greystone is the land Sashaa grew up in, a harsh northern land known for its close-knit, rough-edged peoples. Always a tomboy, she learned the ways of roughhouse and fighting with the boys of her village. Her mother, in particular, thought she’d grow out of it. As a girl, she wore her hair short, as she did boy’s work (and play) and helped her mother (a healer) and others in the village with various strength-intensive jobs (she’d always been preternaturally strong). When she was 15, her clan went to war over a land dispute with another clan. Her brother and father were fighting, while she was helping her mother with the healing behind the lines of battle. Across the battlefield, the young Sashaa saw her brother in mortal danger, falling from a strong blow. Without hesitation, she grabbed her father’s spare longbow and fired a shot across the field, striking her brother’s attacker in the neck. Her father and a couple other clansmen near her woozy brother noticed this shot from afar, appreciating the skill but also teasing her brother for being saved by a girl.

Her brother resented this and after the battle demanded for her to fight him to save his pride. Her dad was a forward thinker and tried to convince her brother not to be stuck in old traditions, but he would not be swayed. Her brother drew his longsword, and her dad offered his greatsword to Sashaa, knowing she would be able to handle its heft handily (having watched her skills and strength develop over the years). She bests him in this familial confrontation, knocking out her brother with a strong punch and becoming the talk of the clan. Her brother has never forgiven this wounding of his pride (or his jaw).

The elders of the clan soon questioned Sashaa’s father on his daughter’s (a woman) skills in battle. They thought it was not appropriate for a woman to be doing man’s labors and battles (strange, they hadn’t been complaining when she had simply been helping out behind the scenes with grunt work throughout her formative years). Who knows what ideas the women of the clan might get? Sashaa’s father persuaded the elders to allow her to stay until he could teach her properly how to handle herself in battle, but then she must leave their land.

When her training was finished, her father gave her his greatsword, a family heirloom for generations. It was a hugely powerful sword, with the hilt of gold and a red ruby set in a serpent’s eye on the pommel. This snake motif was continued with serpents wrapping round the hilt, leading up to heads with eyes of small rubies pointing across the blade at each other.

He also had a special longbow made for her, one which could take advantage of her great strength and accuracy. It was of superior construction, the wood carved to look like scales along the bow with a serpent-eye ruby on top. Her mother gave her her healer’s kit, and enough instruction to take care of herself and others after a battle. Thus equipped, Sashaa Gaylewind of Greystone sets out traveling south, confident in her abilities and sure of her strength. She rides a big black Clydesdale-like horse named Aislinn. She travels to test herself and her parent’s teachings and to see what she might become.