Tacita

[Jenn]

Tacita

25 | 26 September, 48 AD | Slave | Cook, House Slave | Heterosexual | Original | Emilia Clarke

 

 

Personality.

Tacita has been a slave her entire life as she was sold very young. As such she does not know a lifestyle any different. As a child to keep her out of trouble she was often kept in the kitchens helping the slaves out in there and that was where her love of the kitchen was born. Tacita learned very early in from those who ‘took care of her’ that her biological family had abandoned her due to her inability to speak- she has vocal chords as she is able to produce non-descript sounds, however that is the extent of her ‘voice’. To help with communication Tacita learned to use gestures and the slaves around her learned to ‘translate’ however that led to trouble or awkwardness when she would encounter new situations where people didn’t know her usual signs. Her second Master (Lucius Antonius Octavianus) corrected this issue by having a tutor in his household teach her the basics of writing. Although she practices her writing as much as she can, she will still rely on gestures when around people who are familiar with her. The important thing for people to know is she might not always communicate but there is a full conversation going on in her head- just because she can’t talk do not assume she is dumb. Those who do, are not high on her favourites list.

If someone were to ask her if she wanted to be freed the answer is no. Tacita is very content where she is. Being abandoned as a very young child and then a particular bad day where she fell into a crevice and was unable to call for help have reinforced the desire to stay. Being in a ‘household’ even as a slave is the closest to a ‘family’ she has ever had. 

Appearance

For her childhood and teen years, Tacita was often described as ‘mousy’ due to her very slim build. Standing barely 5 feet tall as an adult, her physique is that of someone who has worked hard all her life but started off with barely anything to begin with. Being a servant, and one with such a disability, she often got the scraps left over and spent many hours of her days running around the kitchens/gardens gathering this and that for the cooks so she never seemed to put any fat on her body. This has changed slightly over the past few years due to a healthy stable life. Although she is still a slave, as she is the cook she knows where her meals are coming from and has some control over what goes into them. More often than not her gaze is directed to the floor, but if you do catch her gaze you will see that her dark brown eyes and dark hair against her pale skin is a very striking contrast. Her hair and eyes are so dark that they could almost pass as black but there is a just enough warmth in them to make them inviting and not cold/harsh- think a good comforting piece of dark chocolate. As her skin tone is very pale it is not uncommon for her to have bruises on her body- it is not because she is beaten it is simply because she marks up easily. It takes a very little brush for her to end up with a bruise but luckily they are rarely serious and easily hidden under her dresses. She does have a scar on her right outer thigh from a childhood accident- that spawned her fear of small dark places. Tacita had been out gathering herbs from the hillside garden of a former master’s house and fell into a crevice. She wasn’t hurt other than the 3” cut on her thigh and some bruising but she was there for a while because she was unable to call for help- the best she could do was squeaky cry. Eventually she was found but the wound wasn’t well treated and she ended up with a scar. 

Family

Father: unknown (abandoned at birth)

Mother: unknown (abandoned at birth)

Siblings: unknown (abandoned at birth)

Spouse:

Children:

Extended family:

Other:

-Current Owner: _______________________ (up for sale)

-Past Master: Sextus Papirius Crassus Ursus

-Past Master: Lucius Antonius Octavianus

 

History

CHILDHOOD [48-61 AD]:

September 48- born/abandoned/found

50- sold by the family that found her as they had too many children

53- Began earning her keep working in the kitchens

58- Fell into a crevice, scraping her thigh and unable to call for help was stuck there all day until found

61- Her master’s shady business practice caught up to him and she was put back on the auction block

Tacita was born on a late September day and although she was a healthy sized child there was one thing immediately noticeable about the child. Her cry was not a normal infant cry. What came out sounded like a cat that was being drowned in water or a whistling type sound. While her existence now was proof that someone could live with this condition, at the time of her birth her ‘voice’ (or lack thereof) scared her family and she was abandoned by the riverside. She was found by a farmer’s family and the wife kept her long enough to determine whether the child had enough will to live or would fail to live through the winter. Tacita was a tough child and as such survived and life seemed good however the family that found her had a wealth of children and after a few years were unable to keep her any longer. She was given away, sold off and this is where her life as a slave began.

The early years of her life were a blur of memories. Birthdays came and went with little acknowledgement. If it hadn’t for the fact that farmer’s family who originally took her in estimated her age/date of birth and passed that information on when she was sold initially she might not even have an approximate age. At the age of five, two years after initially sold, it was decided she needed to start pulling her weight around the Domus and she was given to the slaves in the kitchen to use as necessary. They had her helping in the gardens- pulling weeds, gathering herbs & food etc as well as small tasks in the kitchen. About 8 years old she was out gathering up on of the hillsides she slipped into a crevice. She lay injured in the bottom of the crevice ‘crying’ for help but no help ever seemed to come. By the time someone clued in that she had not come back yet and went looking for her before their master found out and was angry that a slave had ‘run away’ she had been trapped there most of the day. She was taken home and after being cleaned up, other than bruises, the only wound she had was a cut on her right thigh that would later form a scar but the experience scared her and she did not want to venture far from the kitchen for quite some time after that. Instead she took to tasks in the kitchen and learned to cook some favoured dishes.

Life was going well, or at least she thought so. It was well known around the Domus that young little Tacita could not speak and occasionally her Master would send for her if he was doing business he wished to be kept silent but still needed a slave around to serve food/do his bidding. He knew that she would be unable to ‘spill’ his secrets to the world and both he and his wife appreciated that. She was ‘prized’ for two skills- her cooking and her silence…the second being a VERY rare skill because even slaves sometimes gossip. Her Master had some shadiness to him and eventually this shadiness caught up to him and he was executed/his household seized.

TEENAGE TO EARLY ADULT [61-70 AD]:

61- Purchased by Lucius Antonius Octavianus who purchased her for her cooking and taught her to read to assist with her lack of a voice but her position there did not last long

62- Once again on the auction block, purchased by Sextus Papirius Crassus Ursus however he was killed when riots broke out early in 62.

62 to 70- Tacita was purchased by a family looking for slaves in the kitchen and general home slaves

In 61 AD, at the tender age of 13, Tacita found herself back on the auction block and feared she would be purchased by a brothel or something worse but it was her abilities as a cook and her silence that found her another home. She was purchased by Lucius Antonius Octavianus and while her time in his household was short, compared to her first Master, he was very good to her. He praised her for her cooking abilities and rewarded her by helping her overcome one of her major challenges. In his household he had a tutor and Lucius felt that Tacita should learn to write/read so that her need to use gestures/translators was lessened.

Life would take another change of direction. When she was 14 years old (62 AD) she was once again on the auction block and was purchased by Sextus Papirus Ursus Crassus and she had barely gotten set into the household when her new master was killed in the riots that broke out just prior to Clemens seizing control. His slaves were sold off to various masters and Tacita was purchased by family looking for general household and kitchen slaves.

ADULTHOOD [70-74 AD]:

70 to 73- Tacita has continued to serve the family that purchased her

74: Tacita has once again found herself on the auction block

Upon becoming an adult life continued on as normal- there wasn’t any acknowledgement. She continued working for the family that had purchased her and it was the longest she had served a single household. She works mostly in the kitchen but helps out in the general household.

 

JENN | EST | PM/DISCORD

[Gothic]

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