Charis

[Sara]

CHARIS

20 | summer - 54 | Slave | House Slave to Tertius Quinctilius Varus  | Straight | Wanted | Alexandra Dowling

 

 

Personality.

Charis can be described as deeply pragmatic, and down to earth. She is not a woman that is easily riled or unnerved, and instead is excellent at holding her ground and finding solutions to problems. Her family, from before, always found her to be their bedrock and it comes with her nature to be supportive and nurturing. She has a wicked, and sometimes dark sense of humour - endlessly self-deprecating - but as she aged she began to learn when to be quiet and when to be forthright. Of course, her new circumstance has changed her personality; her usual assertiveness has taken a blow and she finds herself feeling more lost and unsure of herself more often now. Yet, she was still the calm and collected figure amongst the slaves en route from Britannia to Rome - offering advice and comfort, even when she was going through unimaginable pain and grief herself. Now, as she finds herself in the household of her new, and first master, she is having to learn to adapt. This period of adaption has made her appear quieter and more timid than she, perhaps, is once you get to know her, but for now she is remaining quiet and observant as she tests the boundaries of her new situation. 

 

Appearance

Charis is short for a woman, standing at around 5ft, but she is strong through years of work. She has a feminine frame with appropriate curves, but the travel and a period of illness after the loss of her child has made her frailer. She has been blessed with the very pale skin of the Britons, although she has been dreading the heat and sun of Rome. She has soft features, unusual for the stereotype of a Briton, with full lips and bright blue eyes. Once you wipe the grime for her after her weeks on the road, she is an attractive woman. She does, however, have some small marks upon her body - notably a mark from a lash across her shoulders, and a few small scars on her calves and knees from trips and falls on her travels. She dresses plainly as befits her station, and wears no jewellery, save for a simple leather bracelet that was gifted to her from her late husband Immin. Having secreted it upon her person during her capture and travel, now she has arrived in Rome and the house of her master, she wears it proudly - partly as a mark of defiance, partly to remind her to keep strong. 

 

Family

Father: Ninian (deceased) 

Mother: Letinie (sold into slavery, fate unknown)

Siblings: Calpornus (brother, deceased), Ardra (sister, fate unknown), Turi (brother, fate unknown)

Spouse: Immin (29, presumed deceased) 

Children: None

Extended family: Multiple cousins and extended family in her tribe - most of their fates are unknown

Other: Owned by Tertius Quinctilius Varus

 

History

CHILDHOOD [54 – 62 CE]:

Charis, or Erea as she was known, was born the second child, and first daughter, into a family belonging to the Parisi tribe in Brittania in the summer of 54CE. Although her exact date of birth is unknown, she believes it to be around August the 15th. Unlike many slaves, she was born free and to a family that, whilst hardened by war and continual invasion from Rome, loved one another dearly and closely. Her family were not rich, but decently comfortable as her father was sought after for his skill smithing metal - something ever increasing in demand as the need for weaponry increased. Her childhood years were, like many others, mired by the presence of her Roman peers and whilst too young to understand completely the threat they posed, the fear from her family suitably concerned her. It was during these formative years that Erea's personality began to take flight - noting the deep concern of her parents, and their growing family, she stepped in to take care of her younger siblings.

However, her childhood would come to an abrupt end in February 62CE, with the victory for the Romans in Petuar. Her father's business had boomed in the run up to the battle, and he himself had attended the city to dish out his wares on the fateful day of the advance of Lucius Longinus. She had heard, since that day, that her father put up a decent fight along with his tribe - enough to make the victory barely worth winning as the Romans fell back and recovered. But that day, she nonetheless lost her innocence as her beloved father - a generous and gregarious man, full of warmth and care for his family, was expunged at the sword of a Roman.

 

ADOLESCENCE [62 – 70 CE]: 

Compared with the trauma of her earlier years, her adolescence and maturation into a woman passed unremarkably. Now subdued by the Romans, although not without tension and constant raids, her life was filled with caring for her younger siblings and supporting her mother through her grief. Her brother, to his credit, took up the mantle left by the death of their beloved father and re-ignited their family's metalwork business. Whilst not as skilled as Ninian, Calpornus now a young man, nonetheless had the drive and ambition to make it profitable. As she grew older, her wit and her intelligence grew. On their forays into Petuar to flaunt their wares, Erea had picked up a few Latin phrases - enough to pass by the Roman occupiers and to understand some of their motives. Her pragmatism also started to grow as she realised that they were here to stay, and whilst she would never stoop so low as to make deals with them, she counselled her brother and wider family about how to deal with them. She had understood, quite quickly after the battle in 62CE, that there would be no going back from this and whilst she lived for the day of true freedom - for now it was better to grit ones teeth and bare it. 

It had been around her sixteenth birthday when she was first introduced to Immin. He was older than her, and had taken part in the fighting against the Romans at Petuar - his body and the scars upon it a testament to that. Whilst not deeply in love or lust, the pair nonetheless soon became firm friends whilst deep underneath the beginnings of something deeper started to flourish (although the stubborn Erea refused to admit it at first). They were wed to one another shortly after her seventeenth birthday, and unconventionally, Immin took residence with her family. She suspected because of his frailty - he had take a sword to the leg during the war and it had never quite healed right, but also out of respect as he knew his new bride was deeply invested in helping her mother manage the family and the business with her brother. 

 

ADULTHOOD [70 – Present]:

Erea's peace lasted two glorious years, until 73CE. In the years preceding that date, the business flourished, and with Immin's sharp mind a compliment to her own, their trade increased along with their wealth. Her family were content and her mother had even regained some of the vigour she had lost after the death of Ninian. Whilst confusion and chaos reigned across Britannia as discord against their occupiers grew, Erea and her family lived in relative peace and harmony - shielded from the tumultuous outside world by their love and warmth. It is this, perhaps, that made the raids and the losses even more acute for her, and changed her character from a bright, forthright and vivacious young woman into the quiet and wan one her master finds in Rome today. 

Not one educated in politics, Erea has never understood why the raids started to happen. There were whispers it was revenge for another Parisi group raiding Roman forts to the south, or perhaps it had been a warning - that their business had become too valuable, their supply of weapons too threatening. But whatever the reason - they came at daybreak in May 73CE. Fortunately, or unfortunately, she had not been at home that day. Taking her younger siblings to a neighbouring settlement with Immin, she had returned home to fire and blood. Calpornus was led across his workbench, dead. Their mother - their sweet, kind, vulnerable mother was gone. She later learned from a survivor that she had been taken for a slave as she was still young enough to work, or die trying. Her grief had been indescribable.

They had tried to rebuild after. Immin - whilst no longer physically strong - had tried his best to restart the forge and Ardra and Turi had tried to lend a hand. It was only in December, when Erea had realised her flux was late and the Gods had blessed her with a child. Immin had been overjoyed, but for Erea - as much as she tried, she could not shake her grief or her loss, nor could she help the desperation she felt. With the business now ruined their resources dwindled and with the threat of ever more raids or attacks on the horizon, her happiness at the realisation was muted.  It turned out, with good reason. They came again in January, and this time, she was at home. Having picked up a few Latin phrases she understood a few choice words; ringleaders, rebellion and revenge. She had tried to plead with them that they nothing of any plots, that they were honest people, but it was of no use. She watched her husband being dragged outside, and his scream of pain still rings in her ears, as does the deathly silence that followed it. 

She never found out what happened to him, but she knows it unlikely he survived. Erea herself was dragged by her clothes out of her house and her home, and into a cage - where she would remain for the weeks and weeks travelling to Rome. Her condition - now three or so months pregnant - saved her from the worst brutality that the other women faced at the hands of their captors, but her one hope, her child would not last. It might have been the beating she took as she refused to be silent as instructed (she still bears the lash marks across her shoulders), or simply the travel and lack of food, but she miscarried her child in Gaul. Ill for some weeks after, weak and exhausted, upon her arrival in Rome she was considered a waste of money. Having passed into the hands of Spurius, she thought she had resigned herself to her death or the depravity of a brothel. So when that fateful day in March came and she was liberated from her cage, her interest was piqued. She has no sense of who her new master is, nor his pleasures or temperament. And whilst internally she cries out in pain and for revenge, she knows there are better ways to get what she wants. She needs to be practical and pragmatic, and she needs to find a way home. 

 

Sara | GMT | Discord - Sara#2296

@Gothic

Edited November 2, 2019 by Sara

[Gothic]

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