Sapphire Tuala

Chosen One

Female

68

5'0"

98 pounds

Lunar Elf

19th of Nyar, 186 Prophecy

Taika, the dark elf who gave the original prophecy of the Chosen Ones, knew when she fled Luminus that she'd have problems finding elsewhere to live. Thankfully her visions were as true as ever and the Neutral Goddess agreed to harbor her in Khelgard, and she lived there until she gave birth to her first and only child.

The eye symbol on her chest was a clear giveaway to Taika that her daughter would be one of the Chosen Ones, and upon holding the infant for the first time she had another vision of the future. It was one of the few that Taika kept to herself, writing it down only in a special journal she kept nearby at all times. Said journals were, as per her wishes, destroyed with her body upon her death and so no one except Taika herself knew what was seen.

Whatever it was, it led Taika to throw what was defined as a 'fit of rage brought on by depression following childbirth' where she drugged the baby and took her eyes out. The then five day old child was left permanently blind, and what little memories she had of seeing the world were soon erased and overtaken by the eternal darkness left the wake of her mother's actions.

With her mother deemed unfit to care for the child, Sapphire was taken away and put in an orphanage with other children. Taika killed herself via hanging a few days later. Lunnoar followed Taika's wishes and burned her body along with all her books and possessions so that none of it would ever fall into the wrong hands and left Sapphire to grow up as normal as possible under the watch of the orphanage.

Being blind pretty much since birth made things very hard for Sapphire, but she quickly adjusted and allowed her other senses to take over and help her get around. Her hearing became so acute that she could figure out the layout of even a completely new place simply by hearing other people walking around in it, and her sense of smell heightened to the point where she began to recognize people from a distance by scent and eventually knew colors by scent as well. All of this was helped by a single person, the only friend Sapphire ever grew close to - a human girl named Luna who had also been abandoned by her parents. The two became good friends, and Luna taught Sapphire to 'see' the world by describing the things Sapphire thought she was 'seeing'. This is how Sapphire learned to distinguish colors and people, to tell short from tall and do almost everything someone with real sight could do while still being blind.

When the girls were in their early teens the orphanage got new members - a pair of fire demons who had been thrown out of their home after nearly setting it on fire and showing little to no remorse for their actions. Their powers were bound using spell charms for both their own safety and the safety of everyone around them, but that didn't stop their cruel actions. Whether it was jealousy of the popularity Sapphire and Luna had or simply them picking on 'lesser beings' is still a mystery, but either way one day the demons led the pair out to a small forest behind the orphanage during play time and wound up tormenting them. Luna escaped, but before she could bring help the demon girls had broken Sapphire's legs. It was a cruel action that got the sisters thrown back to Ironhold and left Sapphire with a permanent limp because her legs never healed properly after the crude breaking.

After that things were quiet for the pair, but both of them withdrew and began to only trust one another, going so far as to throw things at others who tried to separate them. At one point Sapphire even bit a doctor when he suggested Luna be 'put down' because it was clear no one would adopt her and it would help bring down the orphanages population. Any attempts made to take the girls away from one another have almost always resulted in someone else getting hurt, and so as time passed people learned to leave them alone.

Unfortunately, neither girl wound up getting adopted. No one wanted a blind child no matter how well they could get around and certainly no one wanted a human. So when the girls turned eighteen they were kicked out of the orphanage and left to live on their own like many other children in their situation. Thankfully, Sapphire had been having her visions for almost as long as she could walk and talk and she'd learned to reign them in and force herself to see only certain things based on who or what she was dealing with if she was prepared to do so. That kind of power in her hands, Sapphire was quick to begin doing fortune telling from a small corner in the local market. By the end of the year she had saved enough to buy herself and Luna passage to Luminus and a small shop for them both to start doing her fortune telling on a more professional level. Luna handled things in the back, taking care of inventory and the business end of the shop because of the stigma associated with her being a human. Not that the girl minded at all, Sapphire didn't ignore her and talked to her as if she was just any other person and that was all she needed.

Things went well until the girls hit their thirties. The business was doing great and Sapphire had even hired a few other human assistants to help out knowing that her skills would speak for themselves and if her customers were really dedicated they wouldn't mind a human or two walking about. Sadly, Luna fell ill and there was nothing to be done about it. Many doctors would not treat a human no matter who was paying or how much they were paid, and before Sapphire could find any real answers Luna was dead. Sapphire was angry with herself for not having seen this coming, and went into a state of depression for several years following the heavy loss. Luna was not her Soul Mate (not that Sapphire even knew what the concept meant at the time) but she filled a void in Sapphire's heart and had helped her so much that it seemed almost wrong for her to have died.

Sapphire remained withdrawn, continuing to do her fortune telling so she could make a living but having no real joy in it like there had once been. At least not until Aquamarine walked in one day, seeking fortune herself and they both felt the jolt that marked them. While Sapphire was still unaware of the concept of Soul Mates, Aquamarine knew it well and knew what she had found. Despite a bit of initial hesitation Sapphire agreed to spend time with the merfolk and get to know her better, and over time that developed into the natural love that blossoms between Soul Mates.

As it turns out Aquamarine had a penchant for summoning and was the perfect mate to Sapphire's fortune telling skills and they happily worked together until it was clear Khelgard was mobilizing for the prophecy. Sapphire stayed in Luminus to keep the shop running and, painful as it was, Aquamarine left for Ironhold to take care of some unfinished business so they could remain split up for their own safety.

--