Young Lady Sir Anabethe Khournas
Sara Pezzini (Witchblade), as drawn by Stjepan Sejic
Sara Pezzini (Witchblade), as drawn by Stjepan Sejic as Anabethe Persephone Khournas
CHARACTER BRIEF
Full Name: Anabethe Persephone Khournas
Byname: {$byname}
Age: 26
Planet: Imperius
Paramount: Khournas
House: Khournas
Title/Profession: Young Lady
Position: Knight
FAMILY PHYSICAL STATS
Spouse: Nicolas Laskaris (ex-husband) Height: 5'11"
Father: High Lord Jevon Khournas Weight: Healthy
Mother: Lady Micaya Ibrahm Hair Color: Brown/Auburn
Siblings: Michram, Ellion, Reena, Nitrim Eye Color: Amber/Brown
Children: Mikhail Khournas (b. 3005)


Background

Born the heir to Khournas, Anabethe's life was laid out from her from the moment she took her first breath. Everything in life was about duty, about the upcoming Invasion, and about the role she was expected to play in Haven's defense. Happily, Anabethe took to the more martial aspects of her duty like a fish to water. From an early age, she was rough and tumble, and started training in staff, sword, and martial arts almost as soon as she could walk. Rather than foster out, she squired with a member of the household guard, all the better to continue to study her homeland and the skills she would need to lead her countrymen in the next System War.She was studious, responsible, and focused on doing what needed to be done for family and for country.

When she was seventeen, a marriage was arranged for Anabethe with the son to a noble family with a particularly lucrative manufacturing company in Volkan. Obedient to the needs of her house, and aware that it would be best if she already had her own heir by the time the Invasion came, she married Nicolas Laskaris. A son, Mikhail, was born about a year later, and shortly afterwards Ana earned her knighthood. Three years into the marriage, when Anabethe was twenty years old, things took a dramatic turn for the worse.

Anabethe's marriage exploded when the press discovered that her husband had been carrying on an affair with Anabethe's best friend, a fellow knight by the name of Anastasia. Anabethe had been unaware of the affair, and unfortunately found out about it just as the rest of Haven did: in the tabloids. There was a particularly ugly and messy divorce afterwards, which ended with the Khournas family in possession of a great deal of the Laskaris assets. Whether or not this was intentional on anyone's part is not entirely clear, though there are those in Volkan who whisper that the Young Lady never did care much for her husband, and is still awfully close to her best friend.

The divorce represented a turning point for Anabethe. Though she'd always been the responsible one, now she started to act out. She went from quietly sitting at lessons and drilling tirelessly to more active pursuit. Every night was a party in a different club, with different drinks, with different entertainment. Every day was a series of contests of arms. A hunt, a tournament, whatever caught her fancy. She collected a group of like-minded young people, who soon started calling themselves the Company of the Scarlet Drake and promptly set about making the most of the years they would have left before the Hostiles returned, and their lives would be forfeit to fighting the threat.

For the better part of the last six years, Anabethe and her compatriots have traveled through Khournas. The Young Lady hasn't entirely abandoned responsibility, though. As she travels, she hears the complaints and problems of the people who will be her subjects, dispensing justice and keeping a thumb on the pulse of the people. She is very much a Khournas fighter, where each man protects the man next to him, and has demonstrated a willingness to lend a hand against raiders, dispose of a troublesome drake, or simply discourage unwanted affections in a bar. Of course, the tales of their wild nights in said bars, the exploits of the Young Lady when she deigns to attend a tournament, and their drake hunts have become something of a legend as well. Rumor has it that Anabethe and the Company were so far into the Drake Mountains without a comm hunting a rumored golden drake that it's taken her nearly a week to return to civilization since news of the Hostile arrival reached them.

Characteristics

Anabethe is a rough and tumble sort of woman, with a typically Khourni preference for utility over form. This can make her seem harsh or brash at times, though she has only the best interests of Haven at heart. Loyalty, family, and duty are paramount to her, and she fully believes that there is more to be gained from shield wall tactics and the reliance of one soldier on another than all of the flash in Cindravale. Having been raised her entire life with the expectation that she would fight and lead soldiers against the Hostiles, she honestly has no expectation that she'll ever inherit the mantle of High Lady. Her goal is to fight and win long enough for her son to mature before her father dies of old age. She absolutely believes that she will die in battle, which has shaped most of her behavior, especially for the last six years.

Notes:
Hostile Lore: Despite her preparation for the war, Anabethe hasn't spent much time studying Hostile Lore. Why? Because she believes that it's changed every time. 500 years is a long time. Better to be able to go into the fight without too many assumptions than to lose terribly by assuming things will be as they were the last time.

Tattoos: Anabethe has nanomesh tattooing that covers most of her back, her right arm, and her left leg. Though she leaves it off when she's being respectable, it otherwise often takes the shape of intricate, drake-scale-like armor that has an almost organic quality to it, like metal vines. There are even a few tendrils along the line of her jaw and framing her eyes, though those can rarely be seen.

Absentee Mother: Anabethe has always believed that her purpose was to fight and probably die in the coming invasion. Perhaps that's part of why she doesn't spend much time with her son. Or maybe she's just not the mothering type. She hasn't really made an effort to find out.

Description

Anabethe Khournas is a gifted woman, blessed with strength and beauty alike. Just an inch shy of six feet tall, she's well-proportioned, with long legs and curves in all the right places, as much muscle tone as femininity. Her features are classical - nose straight, lips full, cheeks and jaw defined - with eyes a cognac shade of amber brown. Thick, straight hair of a dark brown that catches auburn glints in the right lighting reaches the small of her back when left loose, though it's most often pulled back into a tail.

She generally eschews skirts, favoring a black skinsuit whose lines are softened by a richly embroidered tunic in scarlet and gold, the shapes of drakes hidden in the embroidery. Knee-high boots protect her feet, and a sword rides at her hip. Where her clothing allows, the lines of nanomesh tattoos can be seen along her right arm, left leg, and across the whole of her back, with a few tendrils curling around the outside corners of her eyes and along the line of her jaw. When activated, they often take on the appearance of silver, almost organic armor, like something grown from fine drake-scale and crossed with rose vines, with deep red 'jewels' at large junctures.

Quirks

Bold: Anabethe doesn't waste time beating around the bush or waiting for too much information. She'd rather act than not act.

Informal: Formalities are impractical and tend to take up time that could be better used, whether it's for important duties or having fun and burning off stress. When you fight shoulder to shoulder with foot soldiers, you learn that nobles and citizens alike are just human and work much the same way.

Work Hard Play Hard: If she's going to die young for the safety of the planet, then she's going to enjoy the time she has. Anabethe is notorious for partying hard (though usually with drink rather than drugs), brawling, drake hunts, and anything that gives her a rush. When it's time to work, though she's all business. She'll work until a task is completed, and believes that the work she does as a Young Lady is more important than just about anything else.

High Alcohol Tolerance: It's what happens when you're almost 6 feet of muscle and spend a lot of time drinking.

Extensive Tattoos: The one place where Anabethe could rival a Valen for flash. No one's entirely sure why she had the mesh implanted over her back, shoulders, right arm, and left leg. Various rumors suggest it was a dare, or that she was trying to prove to a flashy young Valen lord that the Khourni can put up with more pain than Valen even if it's for something as silly as tattoos. Another says that her ex-husband was always disdainful of tattoos, and since she got them shortly after the divorce…

Musical Inspiration

On the Grid

Known Associates

Michram My back-up : Brother
Nitrim My nuisance : Brother
Victor My brother in arms : Cousin
Asher My cousin : Cousin

Recent Logs

Recent Memoirs

Gallery

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