Remove ads by subscribing to Kanka or enabling premium features for the campaign.

  1. Characters

Andromeda Gothu

Merchant
Player Character

Andromeda’s father, Vilek Gothu was a vicious Pirate who mainly sailed along the landlocked Castrovin Sea. He was notorious there, murdering and pillaging any merchants that were spotted bringing goods to Kaladay. After years of this and normally having his wits about him, he was seduced by the notorious Sea Hag, Hishanra. She killed him and his crew brutally, and sunk their ship to the deepest depth never to be seen or heard from again. Knowing she was pregnant, she fled to the Pillars of Trajheir to her coven to have the changeling child. Andromeda was born with one deep blue eye, the colour of her fathers, and emerald green, to match her mothers that seemed to glisten unnaturally, especially in the dark. Her skin was pale, and her hair was as black as pitch.

Hishanra then brought Andromeda to the town of Vladmir, the birthplace of Andromeda’s father, on a stormy night. The baby didn’t make a sound almost as if the storm calmed her, she didn’t cry out. Out of all of Hishanra’s children, she was different. Vilek’s parents had been dead for quite some time, so Hishanra left Andromeda at the residence of Vileks brother, Irsaend and wife Neorsu.

****************************************************************************************************************

Irsaend wanted to throw Andromeda back into the sea from whence she came, not only because he knew what she was, but because he hated his brother so. Because of Vilek, his family was ostracized and lived as outcasts. Neorsu, who had miscarried all of their children begged Irsaend to let her keep the child. She would raise her to be kind and gentle, though Irsaend had many doubts, for good reason, he relented and Neorsu finally became a mother.

Now Neorsu’s family were from Kaladay and upon meeting Irsaend while he was there for trade, fell in love and left everything she knew to follow him, she had no support from her family as Irsaend was disgraced, she longed for a child of her own, to create a new family. Neorsu was a very talented gardener and healer. She taught Andromeda her ways and the importance of all life, not only to protect it, but to honour the sacrifices of the food they ate whether it be plant or game.

Though Andromeda loved her mother, she sometimes felt deep down that she didn’t belong. Her life was good, though her father’s emotional distance did upset her, Andromeda’s childhood was a happy one, given her circumstance. But all good things sometimes come to an end.

In the harvest season, when Andromeda turned 13, she felt a pull towards the sea. Almost like a song played along the gale winds, summoning her closer and closer. Sometimes she would see the silhouette of a woman beneath the waves, beckoning her. As she gazed underneath the waves she noticed the woman was beautiful. Her hair would sway back and forth in the undertow and her smile was erasing Andromeda's fear. She had decided that she was going to dive down and get closer to this woman. Andy thought she felt familiar, that feeling of lonliness was drifting away. As she began to, Irsaend’s fears were confirmed. She was being called by Hishanra and her coven. Neorsu begged Irsaend to bring her to the druid Rodaidh, far from the sea, who they often traded linen and wool to. Neorsu noticed that Andromeda had a gift, when their crops were dying from lack of rain, Andromeda would almost will it into existence. When the waves were too rough for her father to fish for sturgeon, she would place her tiny hand into the water and just like that, the sea would calm. Neorsu could never understand why this could be, Andromeda didn’t know herself. In a panic, Neorsu packed her things, along with extra wool as payment. 

****************************************************************************************************************

In the late afternoon, there was an eerie fog that rolled in from the sea that covered Vladmirr. Neorsu, alone, closed the doors and shutters, fearing that this was a bad omen. She became frightened and wished she would have travelled with Irsaend When the sun was nearly down, there was a rapping at her door. Neorsu’s heart had sank into her stomach. They never received visitors. No one would dare risk their reputation coming to their home. A hoarse whisper came through the door.

“Give….me….back….my….daughter….”

Neorsu panicked. She knew exactly who was on the other side and knew she wasn't going to get out of this alive. Hishanra was known for her brutality and she would rather die than let Andromeda end up like her. As she mustered up what was to be the last shred of her bravery, she screamed out “She is not, and will never be yours!”

Hishanra both amused and annoyed growled “I have come to take her to her rightful place… you shall not stop me, human... She was born for a greater purpose. I will gut you alive if she doesn’t come out to me…noooooowww”

“I have sent her far away from the likes of you and your monsters! You will never have her!” Neorsu then braced herself and grabbed the iron poker from the hearth. She knew she only had moments left, but she would die with her secret. Hishanra would never get her hands on Andromeda if it was the last thing she saw to.

Hishanra laughed in such a way that Neorsu trembled at the sound. “Very well…"

Hishanra broke the oaken door to splinters. Pieces shattered into the room at high speed piercing Neorsu in the neck, abdomen and thigh. Neorsu screamed in pain and fell to her knees slowly but surely bleeding out. 

"Is she worth dying slowly and painfully for, you wretched and stubborn woman?! Do you know what she will become regardless of your influence?! She is my blood and she will come to me. I want you to know that I will kill everyone you love to get her. But I don't have to... Tell me where she is." Hishanra hissed.

Neorsu began to laugh in between coughs of blood, she didn't know if it was from adrenaline or if she truly was insane. "Do... Your fucking...Worst..." Neorsu closes her eyes and prays to Gozreh for him to see fit to return her to the earth so that new life, that she could not naturally achieve in her human state, could come from her once she has passed.

Hishanra leans down, close to Neorsu's ear and whispers "I want you to know.... this is going to hurt very very badly...." 

****************************************************************************************************************

Irsaend walked silently with Andromeda, unaware that his brave and courageous wife had been taken from him. Andromeda was sobbing quietly as to not draw out Irsaend's temper. He was also feeling something he never thought he would at Andromeda's departure. It wasn't relief or gladness, it was a sharp pain in his chest. He too had been shielding his true feelings from Andromeda during this time. She was the only child he had ever known as his. Andromeda loved them both and also wanted to make them proud. She was kind and as gentle as his wife. He knew that he didn't deserve her affection after keeping her at bay for her whole life. He suddenly felt ashamed and felt anger towards himself for being such a fool. He loved her more than he ever thought possible and he needed to protect her at all costs. He was not afraid to beg on her behalf, for he knew that Andromeda was meant to change her fate. He prayed silently to Gozreh that the druid Rodaidh (Row-dave) would take her in and teach her to harness her magic that was manifesting. And maybe, if he deserved it, she would seek him out again when she was grown.

**************************************************************************************************************

Rodaidh, a lone druid of Iobaria liked his privacy. He preferred the animals and trees to human company and with few exceptions.

As he was gathering herbs, a deer approached as if to warn him that humans were approaching. Over the clearing he saw a familiar face and that of a child, that he sensed was dangerous and unpredictable.

"You can stop there, Irsaend. Come no further. The company you are keeping is not welcome near my home."

”Please, Rodaidh, you must hear me out!” Irsaend called out desperately.

"I cannot help the affliction that abomination carries with her, she is dangerous and unwelcome! I’m warning you, both, come no further.”

“Rodaidh, this is urgent and Neorsu and I need your help, this girl needs your help!”

Rodaidh pauses and beckons Irsaend over…. Alone. As Irsaend makes his way over he mumbles a small prayer to Gozreh, though he was certain he may not care to bestow favour to a changeling child in her time of need, it was worth a try. The fate she would suffer if Hishanra got her hands on her would be far worse for her – and anyone she happened to cross in her wake if she were to join her hag mothers coven.

“Please – Rodaidh, you need to help us. She-“

“NO! Do you not understand what she is? She is a threat to everyone around her! I can’t allow her to exist here amongst the creatures who call this place home, she is a threat!”

“Rodaidh, Neorsu and I have raised her, and she has a kind heart! Yes, she is a changeling! Yes, she is unpredictable, but Hishanra has started calling to her and you know what will happen to her if that hag latches onto her! Nobody will be safe! Neorsu and I have seen the powers she is manifesting, if you can teach her to control it and teach her Gozreh’s ways, she could be great, and she could do wondrous things! She needs to be far from the sea, she needs your help.”

“By the Gods, man, have you lost your MIND!? You cannot change this girl’s fate! I have heard of no tales of a changeling forsaking its nature! Sure, she is sweet as honeysuckle now, but what about when she grows up and begins to show signs of her mother’s lineage?! What then? You would risk my life for this? She would be better off dead! Not with an old man in the forest. I’m sorry, I cannot do this, even for you and Neorsu.”

“Please…” Irsaend’s voice begins to break. “She may not be mine or Neorsu’s biological child, but she is still my child. You are her only hope of surviving and becoming better than us, better than my meritless and dishonourable brother. She can change the world for the better, but she needs a fighting chance…”

Rodaidh ponders and after a long silence, still hesitant and with his guard up, he sighs “Have her approach…”

Irsaend turns towards the cart, wiping a stray tear and calls to Andromeda, who is sitting on the cart looking down at her feet, uncertain as to what is happening across the field. He motions for her to come to him and she begins to dismount and begin her walk towards him.

As Andy makes her way, notices the grass, its long tendrils brush her hands softly and tickle her palms. The cicadas are loud in the trees and the breeze dances through the clearing almost like the waves in the sea. All she wanted to do was run to the trees and escape, escape back to her mother that she missed, and her heart ached for. Who was this man? She had only ever heard of him in passing when her parents would talk of trade at dinner. She suddenly felt angry. “What if they are bartering me off?” She thought. Had their income been so dismal that they would give away their only child to this… this stranger?! Just as she was going through the scenarios in her mind, the sunny day began to cloud over and start to rain, not hard, but enough that by the time she reached her father and the strange old man, they were all noticeably wet and would need to take cover.

Rodaidh narrows his brow as this girl walk towards him, looking at her feet and unable to make his gaze.

"Your name, girl.” Rodaidh asks gruffly.

“Andromeda..” She says so low that Rodaidh in his advanced years could barely hear.

“If I invite you in, you are not to touch anything. I have some questions for you. If I am satisfied with your answers then we can discuss your boarding here. If not, you and your father will leave immediately, is that clear?”

“Yes, sir.”