Anastasia Ekatarina

Anastasia is a Bard from the settlement of refugees that fled the Empire of Eskarya.

Appearance
With vibrant locks of long, ginger, hair, Anastasia was likely once considered a beauty and she still carries herself with an echo of that former grace. Her facial features are sharp, with a small button nose and bow-shaped lips, complimented by high cheekbones and her eyes are chestnut brown, bringing an underlying warmth to her gaze, whilst a band of freckles runs across her face.

It is not a comely appearance that defines her profile though, as a garish scar bisects the leftern half of her face. It runs from just above her eyebrow, straight through her eye, splitting in the middle of her cheek and stretching to the leftmost corner of her lip and the edge of her jawbone. It is an old wound, clearly tended to in the aftermath of its occurrence though never having healed properly, and serves to suitably darken her resting expression.

Commonly garbed in darkened furs and leathers, Anastasia tries to take good care of herself and her apparel though recent circumstances have left her somewhat run down and ragged. When travelling, she is fond of a furred Ushanka-esque hat that sports a pair of black feathers clipped to the fore. As for weaponry, she carries a crossbow on her back, a rapier at her hip, with a dagger strapped to the inside of her left boot for emergencies.

History
How exactly she washed up on the shores of Jal'hinto is a mystery even to her. A young woman, bloody and battered from an assault she could not recall, and no trace of a family or her past to be found. Clinging to life with a grim tenacity, the locals were able to save her life at least.

Thinking her a refugee from Eskarya, a fact that Ana did not dispute for lack of knowledge whether that was actually the truth or not, the people of the Freehold welcomed her and bid her stay for a while. Possessing some small talent for the arcane, she was quickly enrolled into the Hexerei Academy and left to her own devices.

The College of Wyrdsingers took her in after that, teaching Ana of the wyrd and the means by which they manipulated fate and destiny. In such fields, she was surprisingly gifted and excelled beyond many of the Academy's metrics. There existed within her an unnervingly natural gift for communicating with those beyond the veil, an ability that most found challenging or at least unnerving.

In scarce time at all she had graduated from the school, but not before a vision was given to her. The strands of fate were pulling her west, to the lands of Tosima, and so she would go. There was a prophecy to understand, but perhaps it was also the first step on a path to learning exactly who she had been. Perhaps not. The wyrd is often rather fickle like that.