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Noriko

Noriko grew up in a small farming village in the Iwate Prefecture on the Honshu Island of Japa. Her family were rice farmers and Noriko had the misfortune to experience growing up in what she would deem the "dull life." Occasionally she'd help out with the picking of the rice, but most of all she was expected to find a very rich suitor. Noriko was the oldest of three children. Their family had all they needed. The eldest daughter to marry off to someone rich, the son to inherit the family farm and property, and the youngest daughter to take care of them in their old age. Noriko's parents became rather cocky and obnoxious.

Her mother was one of those squawking women, always taking much more than her share of the food and always pointing out every little fault Noriko had. "If you want to get a suitor you'll have to sit up straight!" The thing was, Noriko didn't want that at all. She wanted a life of adventure – like in the tales she'd heard about the cities. One day when she was visiting the city with her mother a very rich general took notice of her and asked her parents if he could marry her. Predictably they accepted and Noriko's dreams of being able to bypass the marriage aspect of her life and get away had quickly been dashed.

Being fourteen at the time, it was a great shock to see how her entire life was already going to be planned out for her. She hated it, but went along with it for the sake of her parents and their family honor. The day of her wedding, she escaped in her wedding clothes. Her mother had said something to her that made her furious - even though she'd gotten a rich, handsome man to be her husband she still wasn't good enough for her mother. And that was that.

Noriko made her way to the coast on the Sea of Japa and met some sailors. She convinced them to take her aboard with her outer wedding kimono and some pleading. She said that she and her husband were bound to start a new life in Chin, across the sea, but unfortunately his boat left without her. They accepted and so began her first sea voyage. After she'd landed in China, she roamed around a bit, still very unsure of what to do until she came upon another boat headed for the far-off and very unknown land of modern day Indonesia. Thus began her stint in sailing.

This time, however, Noriko wasn't able to talk her way onto the ship. So, she went aboard as a stowaway. Food was hard to find on that ship and it was rather cold, but she stayed in the cargo hold for most of the voyage only retreating lower when someone came down to collect something. Surprisingly stealthy, no one caught her on that voyage or any of the voyages to the land of the Mauryan Empire and finally into Persia.

Once she landed there, Noriko decided it was about time for her to travel by foot or horseback or however she could. Still not having any money, she mostly began to beg for things and learned how to hunt and cook with the dagger she'd stolen from one of her stowaway voyages.

Finally, she stumbled upon a curious place where there were no men... there were women fighting and working the jobs of men. She was instantly intrigued and wondered if she could stay - if only briefly - in this wonderful place she'd come to know was named Themiscrya.

Noriko is now nineteen years old and looks young for her age. She stands very tall for her heritage at 5’5" and has become rather scrawny from her travels. She has rather long hair, which is jet black and makes a nice contrast to her pale skin. She's taken to braiding it into thousands of little braids and has woven twigs, twine, feathers and other things into it. Her eyes are a hazel brown that are rather unusual in her family. She still wears her wedding garments, though she's altered them quite a bit for easier moving. She ripped off the sleeves and most of the bottom to construct a makeshift tool-belt where she keeps things of necessity and interest hidden inside. Her totem is the crane.

Tae'Nah athelfi arche: 4 October 2006

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