Ekkaia
The Crushing to the Crossing

The Crushing
It is said that Ekkaia was discovered floating in a tangled mass of driftwood and seaweed when it hit the bow of a hearty Olvi fishing boat along the uncharted eastern coast of Elanthia. A team of ambitiously curious fresh water creatures, apparently lost and drunk on sea water, had guided her to shore, having pushed her unconscious body for leagues and leagues through shipwrecks, wild kelp forests, and murderous Elf eating dolphins. Having apparently gotten caught up in their heroic efforts, the inebriated creatures pushed her through the strong current of a slipstream leading right into a rolling green coast.

The girl�s body headed straight to a small fishing village not unlike Arthe Dale. Her small Elven body was crushed, bones severely fractured, skin roughly splintered and gouged as it slammed against the charging fishing boat, making its way to sea. Having witnessed their horrid mistake, the sea creatures retreated back to the depths of the ocean swearing oaths to each other, vowing never to mention their murderous way by means of intoxication and negligence.

The Olvi of this fishing town say that the muck washed upon the shores of the estuaries are evidence of Ekkaia�s creatures decaying from the bottom of the ocean�s depths, their freshwater flesh melting and peeling away from the sea�s strong salty currents, their hearts having been heavy with guilt, drowning themselves in drunken remorse.

Miraculously, by the grace of Hodierna, the young elven girl survived� though she was grossly disfigured for a time.

Only a child, even to that of an Elf, she regained consciousness with the delightful smells of sweet pastries, the sounds of song and laughter� and an eerie feeling that someone was standing over her. The girl opened her eyes to see a young boy with curly hair and bare feet standing before her. He held a funnel and a tankard of booze.

This boy was Tolanar, a young Olvi who knew nothing of Elves therefore believed this castaway was just a young Olvi about the same age as himself who had met misfortune in the most grotesque way. When she was finally restored to health, the two figured her pointy ears must have been a result of her violent discovery. Tolanar and the villagers accepted the girl as their own, not bothering with the notion that she may be of another race. Of the little lore that the Olvi elders knew of foreign cultures, they decided to name the girl Ekkaia which means �encircling sea of Arda,� a name from ancient Elven tongue.

The Calling
Ekkaia�s only childhood memories are currently only those with Tolanar and their small fishing village. Her call to become an Empath occurred by chance of a sadly disfigured cat, unbeknownst to her or Tolanar that this cat was a familiar to a Warrior Mage, a title that neither of them had ever heard before. Tolanar and Ekkaia took the cat in, believing the cat to represent Ekkaia herself, as a wandering deformed body and thus making it their duty to restore this poor feline back to health. With healing herbs, tarts, and ale, the cat became healthy again, if not clumsy and drunk. However, Ekkaia and Tolanar were not ready to release the cat back to the wild. Showing no mercy to the poor ethereal being, dressing it with puppets and strings, giving it drink of ale and whiskey, doing anything their imagination delighted, of course causing no physical harm to it, reduced the poor cat from a noble warrior�s companion to nothing more than a child�s pet.

One day, the cat [ whose name shall not be spoken lest Ekkaia fade to despair ] began wailing and meowing, its eyes going crossed and shifty, twitching and rolling back until suddenly, a twinkle in its eye straightened the cat�s back, giving it a sudden look of a mission. Still a little under the Olvi influence of Ekkaia and Tolanar, the cat wandered into the strait and floated into the ocean where a fishing boat crushed its body. Ekkaia and Tolanar did what they could to heal their dear cat with healing herbs, tarts, and ale. But alas! The cat crippled up and lay as one dead. Its lifeless body began to fade as silky sheets of air seemed to rise from its corpse.

Staring transfixed over the vanishing body of their cat, Ekkaia and Tolanar watched the silken air form into what they believed to be their cat�s soul. Suddenly, the ghostly form hissed and walked off with a sashaying gait leaving them both stunned in disbelief.

Not knowing how to explain the death of their cat to the village, Ekkaia and Tolanar conceded that it was just their grief that lead them to see such a thing after the cat keeled over after having been found struggling in a bed of a strange sticky plant, concluding deep in their hearts that if they were to convince themselves of such a thing, they ought to take up the healing arts of an Empath, hoping to never fail a dying body again lest they should again feel the pain of a scoffing pet cat.

Ekkaia the Elf
Years passed and Tolanar grew only a few inches while Ekkaia began to clearly outgrow her best friend by a foot or two early into their young adult stages. They had grown to block out the possibility that Ekkaia might actually not be one of them. It was apparent that this was not the case when the Olvi village produced the best harvest of tobacco and ale throughout the region. Soon enough word spread throughout the lands that their crops were best. That year�s harvest celebration was then centered in Tolanar�s village.

Nomadic tribes and clans, travelers, traders, people of all races came to make trade and market with the friendly fishing town. Among these travelers was a clan of River Elves who brought with them such strange winds that beat upon adventurous Ekkaias heart. And in this clan was a young Elf named Nandae. She looked no more than four years Ekkaia�s senior and had displayed much of the same spirit as Ekkaia. She too had a forgotten her past and has since traveled with the River Elves in search of her family. After Ekkaia�s harsh realization that she did not in fact belong to Tolanar and his race, Nandae comforted her with strange familiarity and renewed Ekkaia�s ear and tongue to Ilithic and all other lores she learned from her travels with the clan.

The winds grew stronger after the harvest celebration and it was time for the foreigners to return to their lands. It was then that Ekkaia decided to follow the River Elves in their journeys by ship, sailing the wind and sea for another part of her life as Nandae�s ward.

The Crossing
After many adventures and exiles, eventually Ekkaia and Nandae traversed across Ilithi and to Zoluren where they make most of their stays, though never really calling one place home for long. Their rough encounters along the way through many years had slowly piled over Ekkaia�s childhood memories and soon they were forgotten. It was in Crossing that the both of them studied under a guild and learned the ways of city life. Ekkaia joined the Empath guild while Nandae became a Warrior Mage, revealing the truth behind her beloved cat of the past, a memory that had haunted her with nameless faces until she met Tolanar one day in the Infirmary.

It was after a few months of friendship and a session of �Absinthe Minded,� hosted by Tolanar, Ekkaia and the OCD worker pushing the wheel barrel, that the recollection of their pasts inspired by absinthe reunited them.

These days Ekkaia remains Nandae�s ward even though it is plain that they truly are siblings by blood. Having survived a few months of a strange adoption into an absurdly dysfunctionly growing family, Ekkaia left Cyanntria�s family tree. Yes, after leaving the family Ekkaia no longer had headaches of confusion when introducing herself as Nandae�s niece but sister or sister but kinda niece or cousin thing. Often times you may hear her being referred to as �sister-thing.�

Ekkaia can be found in the Infirmary, stumbling over bodies whilst playing tag with her fellow Empaths, Tolanar and Iannka, ambushing each other with their emphatic touch.