Zadh'ilai (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
vannerbond) wrote2036-01-01 06:38 pm
vannerbond) wrote2036-01-01 06:38 pm
Entry tags:
[OOC] Character Information
CHARACTER PROFILE
Full Name: Na’staza Zadh’Ilai (Ilai of the Zadh Clan from Staza)
Birth Season: Fall
Age: 24
Height: 23.5 hands (7’9”/2.36m)
Village: Ha’staza (People called the Stazas)
Profile Image:
art bycircusafro
World Information:
Ilai comes from the multi-clan village, Ha’staza, hidden by magical barriers in the Forest of Laizan. The forest spans one side of the mountain range and the village sits predominantly in the rocky mountain side and the deep valley that is considered by many too dangerous to travel (as the barrier causes anyone who travels too close without a proper talisman to guide them to get lost and find themselves somewhere else in the forest).
This is a world where magical beings are known to exist, and some live far more openly than others. Dryads, nymphs, mer-people, demons, ogres, trolls, witches, you name it, they likely exist somewhere in this world. Humans call all of them “Teras” as a whole, but the supernatural species see themselves as distinctly individual from each other and use their own words to describe their people. With the technological advancements being similar to that of the 13th and 14th centuries in Europe it is much easier for communities of these creatures to remain separate as they like. Beings like centaurs interact with humans, but some kingdoms and city-states still allow for the hunting of them (whether to kill and use as parts in magical potions and spells, or to enslave for their strength and endurance), so most villages keep their borders hidden away. Ha’staza barters and trades with several villages beyond the wood but it is forbidden to bring any human into the village without permission of the Council of Elders. Humans who have proven themselves worthy will receive magical talismans (whether made with a paint made of centaur blood, or braided with centaur hair) that will allow them travel into the village unhindered, but most often they come in through traveling with a centaur who can lead them while they are blindfolded.
Centaurs have suffered from various illnesses spreading through the villages for some generations now and the birthrates are very low, with stallions outnumbering mares 2:1, to the point that male centaur can be encouraged at times to mate with human women in the hopes of producing centaur offspring. The woman is compensated with a great deal of money, or other items she may find of value (or labor if the woman is of a farming family as centaurs are very adept at fieldwork), as the Stazas would rather she stay in contact so they monitor the pregnancy and ensure a healthy birth. Some women even come to live in the village during the duration of her being with child.
The child of a centaur/human union has a 50% chance of being born looking fully human or having the form of a centaur. Those born as centaur are often born much smaller that their fullblood brethren and prematurely in centaur standards (nine to ten months instead of the twelve of a fullblood centaur birth), but they grow quickly in the first few years so that it evens out mostly by the time they reach majority. For the Stazas, halfbloods who look as centaurs are welcomed into the village wholeheartedly while those who look human are either left to their human mother if she chooses to keep the child or fostered out to a centaur-friendly village they do trade with. They have a tendency to be somewhat shorter (a couple inches at most) and more sturdy in their constitution and fertility than their fullblooded clan members, but otherwise there are very little differences in a full centaur and a halfblood.
Halfblood centaurs who mate with other centaurs will rarely produce human offspring, while a human-looking halfblood has a very small (although not nonexistent) chance of giving birth to a centaur child when mating with a human, hence why they are sent away from the village. For centaurs, the clan and the village are everything and it is seen as kinder to send away a child who can bring no “value” to the village than have them grow up knowing they are a burden to their clan and their community. There are rumors that a village exists somewhere made up entirely of halfbreeds (of centaurs and other magical creatures), but no one in Ha’staza has been there or met someone who has been there directly to confirm it. It may as well be considered a legend by this point.
Centaur villages can be very insular, and Ha’staza is no different in that regard. Everything for them comes back to what is good for the community as a whole. Each centaur’s clan is very important to them, for the history and heritage of their line, but the village still comes first. The foals are raised early on to see everyone as codependent on everyone else in the community and the raising and education of the children is a community affair. Grooming and hygiene are communal activities with children bathing together and taught to help each other clean areas they can’t reach on their own. Stazas keep their hair long, wearing intricate braids and trinkets in their hair as a sign of their village’s unity because family and friends help them put them in. Children are also taught to avoid being seen as a problems for the village because while the community is everything and taking care of children is a priority, making a nuisance of yourself and putting undue burden on those around is a big social taboo.
Due to the issues with reproducing, it is expected for male centaur to go out and begin reproducing early on after they reach adulthood (around 15/16 years), as they can sire more children than the women in the village can reproduce, and after their first foal, each pregnancy puts the health and life of the mother in greater danger. So women are expected to have one child (with a centaur hopefully), but the men are expected to sow as much seed as they can. And for the children they have (those accepted by the village at least), they are expected to place an equal amount of time and attention into all of them.
Because having offspring is a communal duty and raising them is also done by the clan and community as a whole, unions between the centaurs of the village are not bound by the requirement that they must have and raise children together. Lifemates come together out of love and a desire to live with one another, supporting each other and providing a stable home for each mate’s child(ren) should they live with them. It is common for two mares or two stallions to have a lifemate union because lifemates are based on the belief that two souls are in tune with one another instead of the ability to bear children between them. To have a child with another centaur or human is to have a sirebond, to which the two individuals involved are called siremates. The only thing looked down upon for lifemates is if it is someone from outside of the species, such as taking a human or another magical being as a lifemate.
The forest around Ha’staza makes for good hunting and gathering and the mountains are rich with precious metals and gems, but they don’t have much in the way of man-made materials, which is what they trade and barter with humans and other villages for, as well as concessions and protections for centaurs traveling through the kingdom or city-state. They don’t have currency of their own, but they do keep a treasury of currencies, gold, precious gems, and other items considered monetarily valuable by humans. It makes it easier for the centaurs who do leave the village to travel. Centaurs also have mastered the art of collecting and storing amounts of their blood over time because they will take it and use it in special negotiations and trade agreements. They believe humans who know they can get blood, hair, and other items (such as horn shavings from horned centaurs) willingly, will not want to harm their people to acquire them. Humans may be greedy and selfish but they aren’t inherently savage.
Miscellaneous Information:
Character Backstory:
Ilai grew up in the home of his father, Zadh’Emot (Emot of the Zadh), and his lifemate, Toga’Rossa (Rossa of the Toga). His father is a halfblood but his mother was Fanta, a fullblood member of the Qihri Clan. Unfortunately she succumbed to one of the sicknesses not long after Ilai’s birth, as he was her third child. She was very devoted to the village, which is why she pushed to do what she felt was her biggest contribution could be, having children. Some people saw this as foolish, but will never admit it out loud, as a fullblood mare giving birth to three children is near unheard of. She is seen someone who gave her everything for the village, and the Council expects others to aspire to similar devotion and sacrifice. For Ilai this puts even more pressure on him to follow the duty of the Staza and sire children, because if his mother could go so far to give to the clan, it is expected of him to do no less.
Ilai is the only one of her children who did not receive her clan name, because he was Emot’s first child, and the first child of the father is expected to take his clan name. Her other children are both of the Qihri Clan and were living with Fanta and her lifemate before she died. Emot never managed to have any other children beside Ilai and this is something that he is judged for, but he was a strong provider and caretaker for the two of Rossa’s children, Rissa (a filly) and Zell (a colt) who also live in their home. Ilai is the middle child.
Rossa’s duty in the village is as a hunter and guard, spending hours and days away from the central village at the outer posts maintaining the protection of the borders and ensuring that the magical barrier does not falter and reveal their location. Emot works as a part-time blacksmith, but most of his time was spent in childrearing. He loves children and would spend much of his day being with the children of the village and ensuring that they were well cared for and protected.
Ilai always felt constrained by all of the rules and expectations laid upon him by the village. He had a curious mind and would often plead with Rossa to let him travel with him to the outposts so that he could see more of the forest than what was deemed “safe for the yearlings” by the Council. Of course Rossa liked the attention, but would deny him every time until he was of age to begin selecting his role in the village. It was wonderful to him to be able to travel the forest with less restrictions and though at first he told himself that visiting the outposts would be enough, that becoming a guard would be what he wanted, but in the end it wasn’t enough.
By the time he reached adulthood, Ilai was a full guard, traveling to the outposts and spending as much time as he could there. And still, it wasn’t enough. Instead he felt even more constrained, knowing that the limits of what he was allowed were being reached and there was not more than could be done. And then the pressures for him to find siremates increased. The first few years of adulthood without a child could be expected, as young centaurs were still finding their way and making matches for healthy offspring could take time for some, but after four years he was beginning to get looks and the Council had already spoken to him about taking his position in the village more seriously. Yet it was the last thing Ilai wanted out of his life. He didn’t want to be bound to the village by children, but to instead learn more about the world beyond the forest. His trust of humans was very low, but he wanted to know more about the other beings in the world who weren’t centaur or human. He had never even met a nymph in his whole life until that point and they were supposed to live in forests!
Then came the day that Ilai was out at one of the outposts and found trappers traveling through with a centaur captive. He managed to rescue the young colt, Darzi, by traveling beyond the borders and heading into the human village Willowmark, which he knew the Stazas had growing relations with and persuading for one of the men there to buy back Darzi from the trappers with money that Ilai had given him. He rescued Darzi and returned with him to Ha’staza, and from there was given leave (after a stern talking to from the village elders) to return Darzi to his own village. From there he was sent out several times as a messenger between Ha’staza and some of the other, nearer, centaur villages, but the journeys would never take more than a few days at most.
Some days later his fate would have a change because it was found out that one of their Emissaries, the centaur sent out to barter, trade, and create alliances and agreements with other villages (centaur, human, and otherwise) had been gravely injured. He was brought back to the village and would eventually recover, but he could no longer endure the long weeks and at times even months of traveling away from the village being an emissary would require. Rossa is the one who nominated Ilai for the position, believing this could be the chance for him to assuage his wandering spirit and allow him to settle down better when he was ready. What he didn’t realize at the time was that he had given Ilai the out he had wanted from the expectations of siring because Emissaries were the only people in the village not pressured to have children. It was seen as cruel to keep someone with a child or lifemate away from the village for longer durations than the days a sentinel could be expected to spend at one of the outposts, so rarely were sires or mothers chosen. And the longer Ilai could get away with avoiding the pressures of the village to be a parent and settle down the better.
It turned out that he had a knack for negotiation and diplomacy, being very good at calming turbulent situations and making agreements that would be beneficial to his people and their trade partners. He knew when to push and when to step back and his persuasive nature was often seen as blunt honesty because people did not notice how often he hid the truth. It all worked in his favor and for the last four years he’s been one of the best emissaries the Stazas have had in years, despite his young age.
Recently there have been more and more traveling centaurs coming up missing in a particular area of Kreigon and Ilai was the one sent to investigate. Normally this area is neutral towards centaur and with the right protections and money they travel through unimpeded, but with the disappearances and word that slavers have been shipping magical beings from the port in Delsparta, they had to take action and ensure that their people were protected. Many human nations believe that centaur are in greater numbers, more connected, and far more aggressive-minded than they truly are, which Ilai can use to his advantage at times. And thus he gives the warning to the Lord of the City that all trade they provide with him (including the precious gems they mine from the mountains of their area) will cease should he continue to allow the slavers passage through his ports and it may even lead to other actions by his people.
Personality:
Ilai is not the friendliest person, but his demeanor often comes across to others as very honest and dependable. He is dependable in many ways but in truth, he’s much better at masking his real feelings than others would believe and those people often see his mask of blunt “honesty” and simple nature and think that is all they need to know of him. It works in his favor because as the saying goes, people do not seek to swim into the lake they believe to be a shallow pond. In his negotiations he’s seem as direct and honest, doing right by his people and their alliances. This isn’t always true (a good negotiator does their best to make others think they are doing right by them), but he prefers that they look at it that way. It makes the times that he has to be intimidating easier.
The biggest drive in Ilai’s life is to get away from the shadows of his mother, father, and second-father, Rossa. They are well known for their love and duty to the village and the more it is expected of him to live up to and surpass their contributions to the village, the more he wants to get away from it. He wants to travel, to see the world, to meet other magical beings and learn from them, but it is much easier to appear less interested than he truly is. His lack of a desire to sire a child and remain tethered to the village that way is also a prominent motivation for him to find other ways of being useful so they don’t question the fact that he has avoided attempting to sire any child since he reached adulthood.
Ilai is biased against humans, and his time with them has only made him feel more cynical towards them than most centaurs. He’s seen their selfishness and greed in action and is has taught him well what to do to get humans to do what he wants of them, even if it means letting them think they are using him in turn. He believes humans would gladly take control of all magical beings, oppressing them into slavery and servitude if they could, ruining the balance of the world and nature as they did it. At the same time, his job has taught him well against say or acting in relation to those negative perceptions. “Think what you feel and act as they want to think you feel,” is what he has learned well.
Still, Ilai has a very polite and genial nature to him, not seeing reason to speak harsh words or negativities if there is something more productive he could be doing with his time. Because of his upbringing he is always thinking about what the purpose of his actions are and what benefit they would provide him and his village. He knows he is a selfish person for not wanting to do what he had been raised to see as the most important duties of his people, so at times he overcompensates, always wanting to help with extra duties when he’s home, taking over as a guard at the outpost if another stallion or mare wants to spend time with their families. It assuages the guilt he feels to help others do the things he wants to avoid the most (stay in the village, sire children, find a lifemate, etc), because then he justifies that he doesn’t need to do them.
His sense of privacy is greater than the average unmated Staza, moreso because of his duty as the Emissary and his observations of humans and other Tera races and how they view privacy and communal activities. He doesn’t mind sleeping outdoors as needed, or bathing in the presence of other people because he’s very used to doing this, and he’s more likely to offer assistance (in the gruff way of his that is more him showing up and acting without necessarily asking first) if he sees someone in trouble or in need of assistance because it’s instinctive to him. He also stands out somewhat from other Staza in that his hair is not as intricately braided because he is doing the work himself. This usually leads him to putting one braid through the hair around his face to help his vision, adding some trinkets and beads, and leaving most of it in a ponytail going down his back. He’ll never do more than trim or cut out the serious knots because it feels like too much of a betrayal to cut off his hair completely, even if it would be more practical.
Full Name: Na’staza Zadh’Ilai (Ilai of the Zadh Clan from Staza)
Birth Season: Fall
Age: 24
Height: 23.5 hands (7’9”/2.36m)
Village: Ha’staza (People called the Stazas)
Profile Image:
art by
circusafroWorld Information:
Ilai comes from the multi-clan village, Ha’staza, hidden by magical barriers in the Forest of Laizan. The forest spans one side of the mountain range and the village sits predominantly in the rocky mountain side and the deep valley that is considered by many too dangerous to travel (as the barrier causes anyone who travels too close without a proper talisman to guide them to get lost and find themselves somewhere else in the forest).
This is a world where magical beings are known to exist, and some live far more openly than others. Dryads, nymphs, mer-people, demons, ogres, trolls, witches, you name it, they likely exist somewhere in this world. Humans call all of them “Teras” as a whole, but the supernatural species see themselves as distinctly individual from each other and use their own words to describe their people. With the technological advancements being similar to that of the 13th and 14th centuries in Europe it is much easier for communities of these creatures to remain separate as they like. Beings like centaurs interact with humans, but some kingdoms and city-states still allow for the hunting of them (whether to kill and use as parts in magical potions and spells, or to enslave for their strength and endurance), so most villages keep their borders hidden away. Ha’staza barters and trades with several villages beyond the wood but it is forbidden to bring any human into the village without permission of the Council of Elders. Humans who have proven themselves worthy will receive magical talismans (whether made with a paint made of centaur blood, or braided with centaur hair) that will allow them travel into the village unhindered, but most often they come in through traveling with a centaur who can lead them while they are blindfolded.
Centaurs have suffered from various illnesses spreading through the villages for some generations now and the birthrates are very low, with stallions outnumbering mares 2:1, to the point that male centaur can be encouraged at times to mate with human women in the hopes of producing centaur offspring. The woman is compensated with a great deal of money, or other items she may find of value (or labor if the woman is of a farming family as centaurs are very adept at fieldwork), as the Stazas would rather she stay in contact so they monitor the pregnancy and ensure a healthy birth. Some women even come to live in the village during the duration of her being with child.
The child of a centaur/human union has a 50% chance of being born looking fully human or having the form of a centaur. Those born as centaur are often born much smaller that their fullblood brethren and prematurely in centaur standards (nine to ten months instead of the twelve of a fullblood centaur birth), but they grow quickly in the first few years so that it evens out mostly by the time they reach majority. For the Stazas, halfbloods who look as centaurs are welcomed into the village wholeheartedly while those who look human are either left to their human mother if she chooses to keep the child or fostered out to a centaur-friendly village they do trade with. They have a tendency to be somewhat shorter (a couple inches at most) and more sturdy in their constitution and fertility than their fullblooded clan members, but otherwise there are very little differences in a full centaur and a halfblood.
Halfblood centaurs who mate with other centaurs will rarely produce human offspring, while a human-looking halfblood has a very small (although not nonexistent) chance of giving birth to a centaur child when mating with a human, hence why they are sent away from the village. For centaurs, the clan and the village are everything and it is seen as kinder to send away a child who can bring no “value” to the village than have them grow up knowing they are a burden to their clan and their community. There are rumors that a village exists somewhere made up entirely of halfbreeds (of centaurs and other magical creatures), but no one in Ha’staza has been there or met someone who has been there directly to confirm it. It may as well be considered a legend by this point.
Centaur villages can be very insular, and Ha’staza is no different in that regard. Everything for them comes back to what is good for the community as a whole. Each centaur’s clan is very important to them, for the history and heritage of their line, but the village still comes first. The foals are raised early on to see everyone as codependent on everyone else in the community and the raising and education of the children is a community affair. Grooming and hygiene are communal activities with children bathing together and taught to help each other clean areas they can’t reach on their own. Stazas keep their hair long, wearing intricate braids and trinkets in their hair as a sign of their village’s unity because family and friends help them put them in. Children are also taught to avoid being seen as a problems for the village because while the community is everything and taking care of children is a priority, making a nuisance of yourself and putting undue burden on those around is a big social taboo.
Due to the issues with reproducing, it is expected for male centaur to go out and begin reproducing early on after they reach adulthood (around 15/16 years), as they can sire more children than the women in the village can reproduce, and after their first foal, each pregnancy puts the health and life of the mother in greater danger. So women are expected to have one child (with a centaur hopefully), but the men are expected to sow as much seed as they can. And for the children they have (those accepted by the village at least), they are expected to place an equal amount of time and attention into all of them.
Because having offspring is a communal duty and raising them is also done by the clan and community as a whole, unions between the centaurs of the village are not bound by the requirement that they must have and raise children together. Lifemates come together out of love and a desire to live with one another, supporting each other and providing a stable home for each mate’s child(ren) should they live with them. It is common for two mares or two stallions to have a lifemate union because lifemates are based on the belief that two souls are in tune with one another instead of the ability to bear children between them. To have a child with another centaur or human is to have a sirebond, to which the two individuals involved are called siremates. The only thing looked down upon for lifemates is if it is someone from outside of the species, such as taking a human or another magical being as a lifemate.
The forest around Ha’staza makes for good hunting and gathering and the mountains are rich with precious metals and gems, but they don’t have much in the way of man-made materials, which is what they trade and barter with humans and other villages for, as well as concessions and protections for centaurs traveling through the kingdom or city-state. They don’t have currency of their own, but they do keep a treasury of currencies, gold, precious gems, and other items considered monetarily valuable by humans. It makes it easier for the centaurs who do leave the village to travel. Centaurs also have mastered the art of collecting and storing amounts of their blood over time because they will take it and use it in special negotiations and trade agreements. They believe humans who know they can get blood, hair, and other items (such as horn shavings from horned centaurs) willingly, will not want to harm their people to acquire them. Humans may be greedy and selfish but they aren’t inherently savage.
Miscellaneous Information:
- Planet is not Earth. The people call it different things depending on who is asked. Centaur often call it Gaia'sytra or The Goddess' Garden.
- Centaur naming conventions are usually in the order of Village/People, Clan, and then given name. (Ilai’s full name/title is Na’staza Zadh’Ilai, or “From the Staza, of the Zadh, Ilai.”)
- “Ha” means “Village.” Ha’staza means “Village of the Staza.”
- Not all centaur villages are as communal as Ha’staza.
- Brothers and sisters are not necessarily the ones related to you by blood, but those who were raised within the same household. Those related to you by blood are called bloodkin. You can have brothers and sisters who are bloodkin to you, but it’s just as common to not.
- Ha’staza as a village is designed with small hut type houses and longer versions of these houses in the valley and homes built into the stone of the mountain side the further up one travels.
- Most Staza centaurs who have not found a lifemate continue to live within the main clan households, which are large long houses with multiple rooms all set adjacent to the one large central room where the fireplace is, or in the home of the parent(s) who raised them.
- Centaur lifespans have taken a dip, with some living into their 60s at best, but most more often than not only living into their 40s.
- Centaur mature faster than humans, have a similar life expectancy, but the fertile years (for the women) are shorter.
- If a clan name ends in a vowel sound, the name given to the child begins with a consonant sound. If the clan name ends in a consonant sound, the name given to the child begins with a vowel sound.
- Centaurs normally speak dialects of the same language (Chiroan), but have a natural affinity for picking up languages of other races and learning to speak them fluently within a short amount of time.
- Humans hunt centaurs because less reputable markets sell them into slavery or will use their blood, horns, or organs (especially the “equine” organs within their lower body) in spells and magical artifacts.
Character Backstory:
Ilai grew up in the home of his father, Zadh’Emot (Emot of the Zadh), and his lifemate, Toga’Rossa (Rossa of the Toga). His father is a halfblood but his mother was Fanta, a fullblood member of the Qihri Clan. Unfortunately she succumbed to one of the sicknesses not long after Ilai’s birth, as he was her third child. She was very devoted to the village, which is why she pushed to do what she felt was her biggest contribution could be, having children. Some people saw this as foolish, but will never admit it out loud, as a fullblood mare giving birth to three children is near unheard of. She is seen someone who gave her everything for the village, and the Council expects others to aspire to similar devotion and sacrifice. For Ilai this puts even more pressure on him to follow the duty of the Staza and sire children, because if his mother could go so far to give to the clan, it is expected of him to do no less.
Ilai is the only one of her children who did not receive her clan name, because he was Emot’s first child, and the first child of the father is expected to take his clan name. Her other children are both of the Qihri Clan and were living with Fanta and her lifemate before she died. Emot never managed to have any other children beside Ilai and this is something that he is judged for, but he was a strong provider and caretaker for the two of Rossa’s children, Rissa (a filly) and Zell (a colt) who also live in their home. Ilai is the middle child.
Rossa’s duty in the village is as a hunter and guard, spending hours and days away from the central village at the outer posts maintaining the protection of the borders and ensuring that the magical barrier does not falter and reveal their location. Emot works as a part-time blacksmith, but most of his time was spent in childrearing. He loves children and would spend much of his day being with the children of the village and ensuring that they were well cared for and protected.
Ilai always felt constrained by all of the rules and expectations laid upon him by the village. He had a curious mind and would often plead with Rossa to let him travel with him to the outposts so that he could see more of the forest than what was deemed “safe for the yearlings” by the Council. Of course Rossa liked the attention, but would deny him every time until he was of age to begin selecting his role in the village. It was wonderful to him to be able to travel the forest with less restrictions and though at first he told himself that visiting the outposts would be enough, that becoming a guard would be what he wanted, but in the end it wasn’t enough.
By the time he reached adulthood, Ilai was a full guard, traveling to the outposts and spending as much time as he could there. And still, it wasn’t enough. Instead he felt even more constrained, knowing that the limits of what he was allowed were being reached and there was not more than could be done. And then the pressures for him to find siremates increased. The first few years of adulthood without a child could be expected, as young centaurs were still finding their way and making matches for healthy offspring could take time for some, but after four years he was beginning to get looks and the Council had already spoken to him about taking his position in the village more seriously. Yet it was the last thing Ilai wanted out of his life. He didn’t want to be bound to the village by children, but to instead learn more about the world beyond the forest. His trust of humans was very low, but he wanted to know more about the other beings in the world who weren’t centaur or human. He had never even met a nymph in his whole life until that point and they were supposed to live in forests!
Then came the day that Ilai was out at one of the outposts and found trappers traveling through with a centaur captive. He managed to rescue the young colt, Darzi, by traveling beyond the borders and heading into the human village Willowmark, which he knew the Stazas had growing relations with and persuading for one of the men there to buy back Darzi from the trappers with money that Ilai had given him. He rescued Darzi and returned with him to Ha’staza, and from there was given leave (after a stern talking to from the village elders) to return Darzi to his own village. From there he was sent out several times as a messenger between Ha’staza and some of the other, nearer, centaur villages, but the journeys would never take more than a few days at most.
Some days later his fate would have a change because it was found out that one of their Emissaries, the centaur sent out to barter, trade, and create alliances and agreements with other villages (centaur, human, and otherwise) had been gravely injured. He was brought back to the village and would eventually recover, but he could no longer endure the long weeks and at times even months of traveling away from the village being an emissary would require. Rossa is the one who nominated Ilai for the position, believing this could be the chance for him to assuage his wandering spirit and allow him to settle down better when he was ready. What he didn’t realize at the time was that he had given Ilai the out he had wanted from the expectations of siring because Emissaries were the only people in the village not pressured to have children. It was seen as cruel to keep someone with a child or lifemate away from the village for longer durations than the days a sentinel could be expected to spend at one of the outposts, so rarely were sires or mothers chosen. And the longer Ilai could get away with avoiding the pressures of the village to be a parent and settle down the better.
It turned out that he had a knack for negotiation and diplomacy, being very good at calming turbulent situations and making agreements that would be beneficial to his people and their trade partners. He knew when to push and when to step back and his persuasive nature was often seen as blunt honesty because people did not notice how often he hid the truth. It all worked in his favor and for the last four years he’s been one of the best emissaries the Stazas have had in years, despite his young age.
Recently there have been more and more traveling centaurs coming up missing in a particular area of Kreigon and Ilai was the one sent to investigate. Normally this area is neutral towards centaur and with the right protections and money they travel through unimpeded, but with the disappearances and word that slavers have been shipping magical beings from the port in Delsparta, they had to take action and ensure that their people were protected. Many human nations believe that centaur are in greater numbers, more connected, and far more aggressive-minded than they truly are, which Ilai can use to his advantage at times. And thus he gives the warning to the Lord of the City that all trade they provide with him (including the precious gems they mine from the mountains of their area) will cease should he continue to allow the slavers passage through his ports and it may even lead to other actions by his people.
Personality:
Ilai is not the friendliest person, but his demeanor often comes across to others as very honest and dependable. He is dependable in many ways but in truth, he’s much better at masking his real feelings than others would believe and those people often see his mask of blunt “honesty” and simple nature and think that is all they need to know of him. It works in his favor because as the saying goes, people do not seek to swim into the lake they believe to be a shallow pond. In his negotiations he’s seem as direct and honest, doing right by his people and their alliances. This isn’t always true (a good negotiator does their best to make others think they are doing right by them), but he prefers that they look at it that way. It makes the times that he has to be intimidating easier.
The biggest drive in Ilai’s life is to get away from the shadows of his mother, father, and second-father, Rossa. They are well known for their love and duty to the village and the more it is expected of him to live up to and surpass their contributions to the village, the more he wants to get away from it. He wants to travel, to see the world, to meet other magical beings and learn from them, but it is much easier to appear less interested than he truly is. His lack of a desire to sire a child and remain tethered to the village that way is also a prominent motivation for him to find other ways of being useful so they don’t question the fact that he has avoided attempting to sire any child since he reached adulthood.
Ilai is biased against humans, and his time with them has only made him feel more cynical towards them than most centaurs. He’s seen their selfishness and greed in action and is has taught him well what to do to get humans to do what he wants of them, even if it means letting them think they are using him in turn. He believes humans would gladly take control of all magical beings, oppressing them into slavery and servitude if they could, ruining the balance of the world and nature as they did it. At the same time, his job has taught him well against say or acting in relation to those negative perceptions. “Think what you feel and act as they want to think you feel,” is what he has learned well.
Still, Ilai has a very polite and genial nature to him, not seeing reason to speak harsh words or negativities if there is something more productive he could be doing with his time. Because of his upbringing he is always thinking about what the purpose of his actions are and what benefit they would provide him and his village. He knows he is a selfish person for not wanting to do what he had been raised to see as the most important duties of his people, so at times he overcompensates, always wanting to help with extra duties when he’s home, taking over as a guard at the outpost if another stallion or mare wants to spend time with their families. It assuages the guilt he feels to help others do the things he wants to avoid the most (stay in the village, sire children, find a lifemate, etc), because then he justifies that he doesn’t need to do them.
His sense of privacy is greater than the average unmated Staza, moreso because of his duty as the Emissary and his observations of humans and other Tera races and how they view privacy and communal activities. He doesn’t mind sleeping outdoors as needed, or bathing in the presence of other people because he’s very used to doing this, and he’s more likely to offer assistance (in the gruff way of his that is more him showing up and acting without necessarily asking first) if he sees someone in trouble or in need of assistance because it’s instinctive to him. He also stands out somewhat from other Staza in that his hair is not as intricately braided because he is doing the work himself. This usually leads him to putting one braid through the hair around his face to help his vision, adding some trinkets and beads, and leaving most of it in a ponytail going down his back. He’ll never do more than trim or cut out the serious knots because it feels like too much of a betrayal to cut off his hair completely, even if it would be more practical.