Elissa Iqrus
She/they
Elissa is from Tarqus. She was born and raised there and views it as her home. She’s never lived anywhere else for any prolonged period of time. Her family, her friends, the opportunity for study, to make a big contribution to the field of medicine–nowhere else, even within Maer, would compare.
The most important relationship Elissa has is with her mentor, Safya. Safya has taught Elissa everything they know about medicine, and Elissa feels deeply indebted to Safya because of this. Safya expects a lot from Elissa, and Elissa wants nothing more than to meet Safya’s high expectations.
Elissa doesn’t consider herself a storyteller. She is a little bit of a gossip—rumours spread fast throughout the staff at the hospital she works at. She writes and illustrates her own medical journals, but she doesn’t consider this a form of storytelling either.
Elissa’s relationship to fame is… complicated. They see it as a necessary discomfort for the spread of their scientific ideas.
Elissa isn’t sure why they have turned up in the House of Fame. This isn’t an environment she would usually or ideally find herself in. But deep down, she sees it as evidence that she is on the right track with her scientific ideas.
The fact that Elissa is a doctor is almost immediately obvious to everyone who sees her. Pristine leather gloves, hair tied back neatly, her close-to-bursting bag of medical supplies still present even in the dream–she exudes her professionalism. That she is as equally skilled at gossiping as she is at conducting scientific research is a fact she tries, and fails, to conceal.
Elissa’s childhood, despite her parents’ efforts, was a lonely one. She was frail, smaller than her peers, and frequently ill. Resting in bed or sat reading on the floor, she would close the window when she heard the playing of children outside. It wasn’t jealousy or resentment, she would tell herself half-heartedly. She didn’t want to play anyway.
Her lonely childhood gave way to a less lonely teenagehood. She moved her studying from her bedroom to the libraries in Tarqus. She would read for hours in the library, striking up a conversation with fellow library goers, asking them what it was they were reading. It was these friends that dared Elissa to sneak into one of the private lectures held in the library.
It was then that Elissa met Safya. It was Safya’s lecture on experimental and improved use of leeches in medicine that she had snuck into. Safya, recognising Elissa’s desire to learn and seeing she was more concentrated, more engaged than the adult academics there, did not report her. Instead Safya approached Elissa after the lecture and offered her an apprenticeship.
Now 27, Elissa has been working with Safya for 10 years. Safya is both friend and mentor to Elissa, helping Elissa with her research on the spread of disease. Elissa is desperate to prove herself to Safya, she wants to make sure she knows that the chance she took on Elissa all those years ago was not a waste.
Sarana
Any/all
Sarana was born in Tekhayana, but moved to Bahlong when they were very young with their family. His family moved to Galakan, specifically. They don’t remember living in Tekhayana at all, and consider themselves as being Bahlongin.
Apart from her relationship with her family, most of Sarana’s relationships are fleeting. The fact that they are fleeting, however, does not make them any less important to her. He spends his days watching the merchants and sailors arriving and leaving. She strikes up conversation with as many of these visitors as they can, translating their stories and lives into pottery.
Sarana loves stories, they consider storytelling as their purpose. They see themselves as both storyteller and archivist in their creation of pottery, transforming people’s stories into something permanent, something that will hopefully outlive them when they are gone. They keep their pottery on a shelf, each vase or doll or bowl reminding them of someone and their story. Sarana hasn’t made a piece of pottery reflecting their own life yet, he’s unsure what he wants his story to be.
Fame is something Sarana wants. They want to be known, and through being known they hope to know others. He wants others to admire him and his pottery.
After the initial shock has settled, Sarana is not surprised she has turned up in the House of Fame. She sees this as proof that she will be famous. She sees the House of Fame as his opportunity to meet new people, people who he ordinarily would not have met before, and to create pottery inspired by them.
Hands covered with clay even within the dream, Sarana is a passionate potterer from Bahlong. They are eager to hear your story and even more eager later to memorialise your story in the medium of clay.
Sarana doesn’t remember living in Tekhayana very well. They know they lived in Flumenpura for the first 7 of years of their life, but they don’t remember it well enough to consider themself Flumenian. They still speak the language, using it to speak to the occasional Tekhayanan merchant that arrives at the shores of Galakan, but they have never really thought about returning to live in Tekhayana with much seriousness.
Bahlong is their home, they feel a deep sense of belonging while being there, but they do wonder about travel. They hear stories upon stories from travelers, merchants, and seafarers while resting on the beaches of Galakan, but they’ve never dared leave for their own adventure yet. Now 21, Sarana’s desire for adventure and travel is stronger than ever but the gnawing anxiety about leaving still remains.