- Go ahead and introduce yourselves.
A: I am Alexan, Jarl of Ygg in Treemount, on Migurd.
P: And I am Petra, Frue of Ygg
2.Tell us where and when were you born.
A: I was ‘born’ in the Empire of Humanity as a splinter of an ultsi. I became an independent entity when he made a mistake that ended up severing his soul from himself.
P: I wasn’t born. I was the product of a myth that placed me as a seductress. I was born or created adult, as a minor demigoddess, attracting and punishing men for their failings.
- How would you describe yourself?
A: My physical description changes as I wish it. Mentally, I am inquisitive. But the most salient feature to most people is that I have become an Eternal. Think of me as equal to one of the gods of Olympus or the Aesir of Valhalla. I’m shorter than most men of Migurd, where I currently live, and far darker of skin. That said, I’m also augmented by necris and auros – faster and stronger than anyone not so augmented. I typically wear inconspicuous clothing loose enough to move in, tight enough not to trip over.
P: I have always been able to appear as whoever I want. Since our binding, I’ve also learned minor alterations in the appearance of the people I manifest as. I’m usually an average size woman just at the age of physical maturity. I like simple things – simple white dresses. I avoid cosmetics and rarely wear jewelry – I seem to attract plenty of male attention anyway.
- Tell us about where you grew up.
A: I suppose you could say I grew up where the attitudes of my original were formed, as an ultsi of the Fifteen Families in the Empire of Humanity. The competition for mastery and power is fierce and Darwinian, and the death rate is high. You must always be on your guard, and doom can strike without warning at any moment. There are limits, honored by those who play the Game of Houses as in the best interest of all, but all of its players are driven to achieve. Mercy for rivals is barely a concept.
P: I did not have a childhood in the sense you mean, and the place I was from has been conquered and re-conquered at least three times since I began, and I’m not sure I remember much. Through rapport with my husband, I can say things like ‘Early Iron Age’, but it took time – perhaps hundreds of years – before I became aware of anything outside my curse.
- How old are you?
A: You could argue that I’m about 13 years old. Or you could argue that I am several 3600s, as I have the generic memories and skills of my original.
P: I am not certain. It all blurred together for so long. Several thousand years old at least.
- Did you have a happy childhood? Why/why not?
A: I didn’t have a childhood at all as most people use the term. I was born adult. My original’s was happy enough in the way of the Fifteen Families, but childhood to them is a precious time to learn as much as you can. There is not a lot of leisure. But he was loved by his family and taught well.
P: I did not have a childhood at all. No parents, no siblings – only my merciless divine curse.
- Past/ present relationships? How did they affect you?
A: I know my original was married and had many lovers, but those were soul-bound memories that I did not inherit. I have looked up the names of his wife and descendants, his parents and siblings, but I have no actual memories of them or of the times he spent with them.
I have bound myself to a fellow Eternal, the Lady Petra. We have one daughter Catharin, and one son, Ansharos. We have grown together in ways I did not expect when we bound ourselves; she is now the other half of my soul
P: In perhaps ten thousand years, I was never permitted a relationship until Alexan showed me a way out of my previous curse. I am his wife and the mother of our children, I find both to be the most rewarding things I have ever encountered. Everything else I do, from learning wizardry to running our home, is in service to that.
- What do you value above all else in life?
A: The life and happiness of the Lady Petra, my wife. She has had more than enough pain and hurt for a lifetime of any length. The well-being of our children.
P: My husband and children.
- What are you obsessed with?
A: Learning. Preparations for likely threats. Improving the lives of those around me.
P: Making things safe and happy for my children – I want as many more as I can possibly have. I know it is bound up in my new divine curse, but it was a curse I chose to have.
10.How do your beliefs make life better for yourself and the people you care about?
A: I believe in cooperation out of mutual interest. I believe that facts must be the basis for all decisions, so evidence must be ruthlessly examined. I believe skills must be shared. As a result, Petra and our children are learning what I know. We are wealthy as such things go, secure as is reasonable, and by all evidence, happy.
P: I have chosen to make motherhood the most important thing in my life. While my husband concentrates on improving our life by new things, I work with what can be done now, and improving things for my children makes life better for those around us as well. I seem to have acquired friends and admirers in plenty.
- Biggest fear?
A: That something will cause pain to the Lady Petra, or hurt beyond my ability to heal.
P: Harm to my children – the same as any mother.
- What line will you never cross?
A: In the mold of my original, I can never go against the interests of humanity as a species, and I must work against threats to humanity.
P: Disloyalty. Now that I have experienced loyalty and love, I never want to be the reason someone else loses them. Especially not my husband or children.
- What is the best thing that ever happened to you?
A: The Lady Petra deciding I could somehow help her escape her curse. It became so much more.
P: When my husband declared his love and helped me overcome my original curse.
The worst?
A: The moment the Lady Petra informed me that others from the Empire of Humanity had been to the connected realms of Aescalon
P: That horrible duel with Donarr that he forced my husband into. All the waste and destruction, and the danger to my children.
- Most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you?
A: When I realized what the situation was with my original, and that I had to leave the Empire as a result of him dying.
P: When I was trying to persuade Alexan to help me with my curse, and he told me he knew how I was trying to manipulate him.
- Biggest secret?
A: If I even told you what sort of thing it was, I’d have to destroy you.
P: I have to agree with my husband. Better nobody knows.
- What is the one word you would use to define yourself?
A: Driven, as are all ultsi. Even though I am not technically ultsi.
P: Fulfilled. To go from my previous existence to this leaves me so happy and fulfilled, I can’t help but enjoy myself.
- What is your current goal?
A: I am trying to understand everything about the Connected Worlds as well as improving our lives, but I’m suddenly distracted by the danger of the stress coming from Siluria. I need to find out what damage it’s likely to do here in Migurd and the other Connected Worlds.
P: I’ve suddenly come to the understanding that allowing my children free rein, and not insisting they master all of the relevant skills, has crippled them. I am trying to remedy this failing.
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