"Slow down, little girl
You've lost your way in this world
Slow down, and start again
You'll feel much better in the end" - On the Dark Streets Below, Murder by Death
BASICS
NAME: Chess
GENDER: Cis Woman
PRONOUNS: she/her/hers
ORIENTATION: Asexual Lesbian (but doesn't realize it)
BIRTHDATE: Early Spring 2756
AGE: 21 as of 2776
LOCATION: Fort Weyr
OCCUPATION: Brown Handler, former farmer
WING: Dawn Squad
APPEARANCE
EYES: Light green
HAIR: Orange-red
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 5' 8" and trim
EXPY SOURCE: Chess Watkins (Steel Vengeance lore)
FULL APPEARANCE:
Chess stands about average height, and has a trim, but fairly well muscled build. Her hair is about waist length, orange-red in color, and often tied up in braids while she's working. She's unafraid of dirt and grime, and often has some smudged on her cheeks and hands. She has a conventionally attractive face, which has gotten her into trouble more than once.
Most of the time she wears simple work clothes made of leather or cotton. She doesn't mind getting dolled up for a special occasion though, and will wear one of her few nice dresses and clean herself up if given the opportunity to.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY:
Chess is energetic and full of spunk. She's typically chipper, and she speaks her mind as the thoughts come in, with little consideration for how they're delivered or what the consequences of speaking her mind may be. She can come off as rude, as she does not care much for manners, despite her mother's insistence on teaching her. She loves animals of all sorts, and feels like she understands them much better than people most of the time.
Coming from a small hold, she can be a bit naive, but if you try to take advantage of her, there will be hell to pay. Anyone who's crossed her knows she's got a mean streak and will exact hard vengeance on those who wrong her. If she finds out you've taken advantage of her or wronged her in some manner, she will get revenge in some way, no matter how petty. It might be spreading a rumor, leaving something unpleasant under a mattress, or picking a fight, verbal or physical. The worse the offense against her, the worse her retaliation is.
She also has a one-track mind and tends to focus on only what interests her, ignoring things she doesn't want to focus on. She's been known to neglect bathing several days longer than she should, or leave chores unfinished so she can do the tasks she's more interested in instead.
HISTORY
FAMILY:
Father - Watkins, rancher
Mother - Lillith, rancher
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: None, and she likes it that way
BIRTHPLACE: A minor hold near Igen
HISTORY:
Chess was born the only daughter to a pair of ranchers in a minor hold near Fort. The pair had long wanted a child, and were ecstatic that they had finally gotten the daughter they desired. Chess was a happy child, and loved the herdbeasts and horses her parents raised. She was tasked from a fairly young age to help take care of them, and loved the work.
Creatures of all shapes and sizes fascinated her, especially her father's wher, Kisk. Her family was decently well off, as they bred horses for the Blooded family of the hold, so before Chess was born, her father had purchased a wher egg. The egg produced Brown Kisk, who was the faithful, yet grumpy, watchwher of the ranch.
As she grew older, she became quite the skilled equestrian, taking over the breaking in of horses for her father in her late teens. By age 18, she had started gaining a reputation amongst the hold for her skills, and caught the eye of the elder son of the Blooded family, Maverick, who was just a few years older than Chess. For several turns, he flirted and pursued her hand in marriage, but she kept brushing him off, not wanting to just become a wife to a high status man and have to give up her life raising livestock.
This all came to a head when at age 20, she was invited to a party being thrown by the family, which then turned into a very public marriage proposal when Maverick asked for her hand. Chess rebuffed him, loudly and in front of the whole party, then left. As she was leaving, Maverick swore she and her family would pay for this, and she would be his one day.
Several weeks later, he made good on his word. He sent a pair of thugs to collect a large sum of money from her family as a new "land tax" that they had no way of paying. In order to pay off the debt, one of the family would have to work as a servant at the Lord Holder's castle, and Maverick wanted Chess.
The last thing Chess wanted was to leave her beloved horses and have to spend every waking moment waiting on Maverick hand and foot. The first night she worked at the castle, she came up with a plan to free herself from this new life of servitude.
Late in the night, she went to Maverick's chambers. She insisted she needed to speak with him alone, so the guards were dismissed. She admitted his proposal had taken her by surprise was all, and that she was quite interested in him. She proceeded to seduce him, until he was in a compromising enough position where she could tie him up.
Once he was tied, she revealed she had been lying, she was never interested in him, and he was a terrible person. She told him to never come looking for her again, and if he harassed her family, she would do more than just leave him in a compromised position. She left the room, and for good measure, released all the horses from the stables that her family had carefully raised for years.
She took one back to the family ranch, where she told her parents she couldn't stand to remain in the hold for as long as Maverick and his family were in charge. She wanted to leave and find a new life for herself. Kisk, not wanting the young woman to be on her own, voluntarily rebonded, becoming Kichsk.
With the wher newly hers, the pair left the hold. Chess needed to make a new life for herself, so she joined the first caravan she found, which was heading to Fort. She decided to become a handler there. Newly arrived at the beginning of 2776, she is ready to restart her life and rebuild something for herself.
