Nayreen Essen

"Note: Nayreen is subject to change over time, as the other members of the Essen familly will have their story developed as well."Nayreen is Essen's first biological child. She is Alren and Reldt's sister. She is an optimistic Eastern-Northern hybrid affected by the war since her childhood.

Circumstances of her birth
Nayreen's mother was captured by soldiers coming from Reono in RC22 along with Reldt who was only 2 years old at that time. She was abused by a soldier, resulting in the birth of two children, Nayreen as the first, in RC23, and Alren as the second, in RC24. During all this time, her mother was considered a prisoner, and was kept as a means of exchange if necessary. Nayreen, Reldt, and Alren, however, were not considered prisoners.

Childhood(23RC-28RC)
Nayreen and her brothers had a rather quiet childhood in a village of Reono despite the threat of the Shigu. They spent their time playing, and Nayreen soon learned about the traditions of the East, and hoped to become a hunter as an adult, influenced by the village elders. Her relationship with her brothers was very important to her, and they rarely left each other. Her mother secretly taught her some of the traditions of her original clan before the reunification, and Nayreen had a deep affection for her. Her father, however, was a selfish and reckless male serving in Reono's army. He had little interest in his biological children, and even less in Reldt, whom he considered a nuisance (he had never seen a sergal from the west before). As a result, Nayreen had no interest in him, and considered some elders as a paternal figure. This explains why she uses her mother’s name as her last name. Despite the quietness of the area they were in, war finally caught up with them. In RC28, an unprecedented offensive hit them. In panic, Nayreen's mother managed to escape with Alren and Reldt, but had to leave Nayreen alone because of the general panic. The other explanation was that at that moment Nayreen looked too much like an easterner and would suffer from this once in the Kingdom. Her biological father did try to catch up with Alren and Reldt, but Nayreen, in the anxiety of the moment, revealed for the first time one of the problems of her hereditary disease. She lost control of herself, and ended up killing him by snapping his neck. She no longer remembers that moment, and generally does not remember all but one of the moments when her second nature intervened. When her father died, she found herself alone in the rubble of the carnage, and it was a group of three hunters on the run who took her under their wing. After this incident, she was taken by the group to the Gold Ring. It was a culture shock for her to find herself in a gigantic city like this one, and more importantly, to see the Ocean for the first time. The end of her childhood allowed her to recover from the trauma of the night when everything changed, and allowed her to develop as a person.

"Adolescence" and Young Adult (28RC-36RC)
Trained by the group that took her in, she ended up becoming a hunter herself, accompanying them on certain tasks. Over time, she built her social network among the refugees and found her passion in singing. It was during one of her missions that she met Minerve, a T-Stalker still very young, abandoned by her group. Nayreen took them in and they decided to stay at their side. It was a quiet time in her life, giving her time to grow up and become a young adult. However, the continuing news of the ravages of war was breaking something inside her. She wanted to help, but could not. It was in RC34 that, on a whim, she decided to leave with a mercenary team to help refugees from the West reach the city. In the middle of the war zone, she and her group were eventually captured. All were executed except Nayreen, who was taken to one of the leaders of the operation in that area, her mother. For the first time in six years, she saw her brothers and mother again. But things did not go smoothly. While Nayreen tried to reason with her mother, her mother wanted her to change sides. This resulted in a confrontation between the two, which Nayreen did not want to participate in. It was at this point that her mother gave her the scar on her face. Showing no mercy to her daughter, Nayreen's second nature took over. She fatally injured her mother in the process, before the eyes of her brothers. This is the only time she remembers her actions in this second state. In tears, Nayreen was helpless, and resigned herself to accept the consequences of her actions, but Reldt took advantage of a beast attack caused by the noise of the fight to flee, taking Nayreen with him but leaving Alren alone.

In the months following her return to the Gold Ring with Reldt, Nayreen suffered a severe depression, during which she ate very little, could not sleep, and even injured herself on purpose, without Reldt being able to do anything about it. She discovered at the same time that she was infertile because of her disease, helping to shatter her more. She eventually pulled herself together, but changed her behaviour from one day to the next, becoming more cautious, but also more determined. She decided to reopen the scar on her own face when it began to fade, so that she would never forget the tragic day when she executed her mother. She took a few years to recover, by resuming simple activities and moving away from any mention of this war, which she called stupid, and shameful to her blood.

Adult (RC36-...)
Eventually, Nayreen ended up going north undercover again with her brother. Neither of them could reveal their identities because of the betrayal Reldt had committed in deserting. Their purpose was to inform the Gold Ring of the movements and shenanigans of the Shigu army. This lasted four years, during which Nayreen became aware of the disaster caused by the war in the northern and eastern regions: Poverty, Malnutrition, Diseases, ... Nayreen was more than convinced that the war had to end as soon as possible, and pledged to make it a reality. In a skirmish in a village where Nayreen lost control of herself, she wounded several Shigu soldiers badly, before escaping with Reldt. This event earned her the title of "blood demon" in the area, because of the appearance she gave with her blood-covered mouth and murderous look. However, one of her main goals was to find Alren, which she failed to achieve.

It was when the coup d'état took place that things changed. In the panic of the revolts, Nayreen finally found Alren in the capital. He had changed completely, and a fight between the two of them based on their differences ended in a tie. It was after this fight that she took in a wounded young sergal, Vez. Nayreen decided to take care of him as if he were her own child, and to protect him from others, from the resentment of the refugees towards the Silves, and indirectly, from her own mother, because of his golden eyes.

Nayreen resumed a normal life with Vez at the Gold Ring while the Shigu Kingdom rebuilt itself. There she educates Vez, but with the lingering fear that something or someone will come after him. She still wonders what happened to Alren, who disappeared after the coup.

During the war
Nayreen tried to be a simple huntress, not bothering with anything, but the reality of war caugh up with her, and she eventually got involved.

Nayreen's involvments during the war varied from the beginning to the end:

-She was an outsider allied to some mercenaries at the beginning, that tried saving the most people they could from the genocide. Everything ended when they got captured by her mother.

-After her depression, she and Reldt were engaged by Gold Ring's military divison as their eyes on the Shigu army's gestures. They both knew it was a really dangerous mission that could cost them their lives, but there was other motives for them to do that. They wanted to find Alren, and bring him back with them. After the coup, they knew they couldn't with how he changed over time.

After the war
Nayreen decided to take care of Vez, an abandonned very young Northern sergal, as her own child, as she couldn't have a child of her own. She started singing again, and sometimes hunts with her T-Stalker, Minerve. She went back to a peaceful life, trying to stay away from the scars of war. But Vez's origins and golden eyes eventually came up as a problem in Gold Ring, where he was seen as the son of a madwoman who caused thousands of deaths.

Nature
Before the tragic death of her mother, Nayreen was confident and fearless, but thoughtless and sanguine. This character earned her several fights with her family, and some minor problems with the Gold Ring authorities.

She then suffered a depressive episode after her mother's death, during which she spoke very little, and always appeared sad and tormented. Some would go so far as to say that she appeared lifeless, but these claims are pushed to the extreme.

Eventually, after she pulled herself together, she developed a distrustful but optimistic nature, wishing only for the happiness of her loved ones. She acts with gentleness, despite her sometimes imposing build.

Child
As a child, she looked like an Eastern Sergal of her age, her eyes were not turning to the sides as much as others eastern children. As time went by, her Northern characteristics revealed themselves more and more.

Teenager/Young Adult
Before her mother's death, she was already tall with an imposing build, which made it difficult to define her origins.

During her depression, she lost a lot of muscle mass, becoming anorexic. Her ribs were visible, her face was thin, she had only skin on her bones. It's at this time that she let her hair grow that much.

Once she recovered, she regained some muscle mass, but in the end never regained the same as before. However, she still grew a little more, until she was 185cm tall.

Adult (Actual)
Nayreen has the appearence of a really strong Northern sergal due to her Eastern genes. Her eyes did not turn entirely on the sides like Easterners' tend to. She kept her long and messy hair as a symbol of her pride and in grief for her mother.

Specific Traits
One of the traits that separates her from the others is related to her hereditary disease, which explains why her two front teeth are longer than those of the others. These are slightly outward pointing, and extend out of her mouth slightly even when closed.

Hereditary Disease
Her northern genes carry a rare disease, causing certain mutations in her appearance and behaviour.

In appearance, her two front teeth are longer than those of a normal individual, and sharper.

Her behaviour is affected when she experiences abnormally high stress or anxiety. In this case, she loses control of herself and acts like a primitive beast. According to the doctors, she loses all notion of right or wrong, and acts only by her instincts for a while. Her body protects itself from this by erasing all memories of her actions in this state. However, this mechanism was not entirely effective, as Nayreen remembers her mother's murder.

Small Details
-The title of "Blood Demon" usualy makes her laugh because she knows it isn't true, she's not a demon, and not thirsty for blood either.

-Her appearence made her hard to categorise between Notherners and Easterners. She decided to be seen as a Northerner, as she knows what was done to her mother, and thus she is not entirely proud of her eastern roots.

-As much as she knows how war affected everyone, she felt a lot of pity for Rain, as she saw her as a lost soul.

-The only easterners she trusts are the older ones who taugh her when she was very young, and the hunters who took care of her in GR.

-Nayreen decided to choose her mother's name as her last name, but it's not sure if Reldt or Alren agreed to do so. Without any validation, they are keeping this last name too.

-Her hereditary disease was transfered to her from her mother, and is of Northern origins. It might be due to the miasma that affected her ancestors back then.

-Her hair can sometimes go as far as her lower back when they are really long.

-Her two body scars (right shoulder and left leg) were caused by talyxian beasts when she was younger, before getting involved in war.

Gallery Links
Nayreen's Ref Sheet: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/35081616/

Nayreen after the war: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/36701044/