Jill, from Katherine Kerr's Deverry books

[turtledove_jill]

A young woman with short blonde hair walks in, stops, and looks around in surprise. She is wearing worn baggy trousers, a slightly stained linen shirt, boots, and a swordbelt from which hang a sword and a silver dagger.

"By the Lord of Hell's black hairy balls! Since when did Brin Toraedic have a room that looked like this(OOC: This Jill is from

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[wh0_kill3d_m3]

Hi. I'm Laura. *waves* This is Galahad *points to treecat on shoulder* - he's mostly friendly.

What's Wyrd, and how does it work? And what does it have to do with being reborn, exactly?

[turtledove_jill]

Jill nods to Laura and Galahad. "Hello, Laura and Galahad." She looks more closely at Galahad. "Is that really a cat, or has he changed his shape? Though, truly, he looks small to be shapechanged..." She shrugs. "Wyrd is...well...it's Wyrd." She looks a little puzzled. "Don't folk talk about it here? Your Wyrd is what will happen to you, like it was my Wyrd to study dweomer. Sometimes it takes lifetimes to fulfill your Wyrd, though, just because it's there don't mean you know what it is, see? And it has to do with being reborn because if you don't fulfill your Wyrd in one life, you need to do it in another. And the people you have close ties to in one life, through love or hate, well, that ties your Wyrd's together and until you resolve it you'll feel the same in later lives."

[wh0_kill3d_m3]

He's not exactly a cat. He's from another world, and he's of a species humans refer to as treecats. Because they live in the canopies of the picketwood trees on their world, and they look so very catlike. Do big things change their shape where you're from?

I think we talk about it, yes, under another name. It sounds like what we call Fate or Destiny. There's other words for it in other languages too, I think. That actually makes a lot of sense to me, because I was murdered and when I was brought back, I was brought back here - the one place I can learn what I need to face down the spirit-being that murdered me. I was powerless against him in that life, see? But this time I get to start right in learning how to stop him.

[turtledove_jill]

"Another world? You mean another plane, like the aethyric plane, or the one where the Wildfolk are from?" Jill looks at Galahad with more interest. "Not the Wildfolk's one, though, he looks nothing like them."

She looks back to Laura. "Not things, really, no. Well, some can, if they're enchanted. But what I mean when I asked if he was shapechanged is that the dweomermasters of the Westfolk can change their shape, though I've only ever known them to take bird form. I'm hoping that they'll teach me, because humans are able to learn how to do it, too."

A small grey gnome materialises at her foot and tugs on her trousers. Jill picks him up absently and gives him a pat. "You were murdered by an evil spirit? Ych, you poor lass. But if you were brought back to the one place that can teach you to deal with him, then that sounds like Wyrd."

[ian_ma1co1m]

Pardon me, miss. You wouldn't happen to have a passionate interest in hyenas, would you?

[turtledove_jill]

"A hyena? What's that?"

[ian_ma1co1m]

A wild animal that hunts in packs, mostly in a land called Africa. You remind me very much of a dear friend of mine who has moved there to study hyenas, is why I ask. Incidentally, that's not a bad thing - she's a very dear friend.

[turtledove_jill]

Jill frowns slightly. "Why does she want to study them? Do they have some sort of magical or medicinal properties?"

[maid_brienne]

Brienne approaches the applicant diffidently.

"You wield a sword -- is this a thing done among the women of your place? I have met one such woman here. She was from another planet, and had blue skin. I have not seen one like myself yet."

She carries Oathkeeper as always, scabbarded. She speaks as though she expects immediate reproach.

[turtledove_jill]

Jill gives Brienne a crooked smile. "Not really, no. Way back in the Dawntime women used to fight alongside men, and as recently as the Time of Troubles there were women sworn to the Moon as warriors, like Lady Gweniver. Who was me as well, in a way. She was an earlier incarnation of my soul, at any rate, so it's interesting that when I was a little lass I wanted to be a warrior like her, isn't it

[maid_brienne]

Brienne listens, and nods slowly. It makes sense, somewhat: she do not know what a 'silver dagger' meant in this context, only that it signifies some sort of band of men, but it sounds as though low birth has meant some measure of freedom for Jill, and that is not entirely unlike the way things worked in Westeros.

How can she explain what she is, without resorting to terms that would mean as little to this woman as 'Wyrd' means to Brienne? "I am the trueborn daughter of a lord," she says, haltingly. "I learned to fight because I wished it and argued for it. I am good for nothing else." She indicates her awkward, tall, muscular frame, unable to articulate what an unlikely lady she made, how wrong she looked in a gown, how stupid she felt when doing anything but fighting or riding or sailing.

Her face lights up at the compliment to Oathkeeper. "The blade is Valyrian steel, very rare," she said. "It was given me by -- " the man I love, or do I? " -- someone to whom I owe a great debt, as token of an oath I swore, and means

[turtledove_jill]

Jill nods in understanding. She likewise feels stupid doing 'ladylike' activities, or trying to dress in women's clothes.

"Don't put yourself down like that," she says. "I used to think the same, then found a few other things I was good at. It was good of your father to let you learn because ye gods, men and their cursed pride! I've known and known of a good few lords who've made their daughters and sisters marry regardless of their wishes. Even in the life when I was Lady Gweniver I would never have become a Moon-sworn warrior if my father and brother had still been alive."

She listens with interest to what Brienne says about Oathkeeper. "I've never heard of Valyrian steel, but the way you talk makes them sound like very good weapons indeed. This person you're oathsworn to must honour you highly to give you such a weapon."

She holds out her hand. "What little manners a silver dagger's bastard like me has must have gone to the dogs. I'm Jill -- well, it's actually Gilyan, but everyone calls me Jill."

[ugly_imp]

A foul-mouthed, practical wench. Tyrion liked her already. He shuffled over to her and looked up at her curiously. "Tell me about these wild folk."

[turtledove_jill]

Jill looked down at the man, giving a small smile and a nod. He reminded her a little of Otho.

"The Wildfolk are spirits," she explains. "Elemental spirits, Nevyn calls them, because they're aligned to the elements. Gnomes and sprites for earth, sylphs for air, salamanders for fire and undines for water. They're not terribly intelligent, and they love to play pranks on people. Most folk can't see them, which sometimes annoys them and sometimes pleases them because it makes getting away with pranks easier."

"Some of them take likings to particular people, too." She points at the grey gnome by her feet, who grins up at Tyrion. "This little fellow's a gnome. He's followed me around ever since I can remember."

[ugly_imp]

Tyrion nodded. "Well, they seem a good deal more pleasant than the beasties that live beyond the Wall," he mused. Then something else occurred to him and he switched gears entirely. "I do admit, you're probably wise to refuse to be a tavern lass, though. Back where I come from, tavern lasses are like as not the first to be killed or raped, especially while all of Westeros is at war."

[turtledove_jill]

"The Wall? What's that?" Jill asks curiously, then nods, her mouth set in a hard line as one hand idly brushes her swordhilt. "It's a pretty honourless warband that attacks villagers or townsfolk outside a siege, but it's been known to happen where I come from, too. And even when a given demense isn't at war, it's not uncommon for a tavern lass to be taken against her will, particularly in the larger towns. That's not the only reason why I'd never be one, they also tend to take up whoring and that's not for me." She gives a quick grin. "And I couldn't abide giving up the freedom of the road to be some stupid town lass."

[artsy_jilly]

Small things amuse certain people, and Jilly noticed right away that this applicant shared her name. She made her way over, smiling in her usual cheerful way.

"Hi! I'm a Jill, too... Well, Jilly actually, but I suppose it's all the same. The Wildfolk... Are they like pixies or hobbs?" Then she noticed the gnome. "Awww, he's cute!" she gushed.

OOC: Ahhh, books I've actually read. Squee!

[turtledove_jill]

"Hello, Jilly," Jill says, smiling back. "That's got to be the first time I've heard a gnome called 'cute.'" Her grey gnome looks up at her and sticks his tongue out, then gives Jilly a big grin, showing off his mouthful of pointed teeth. "I don't know what pixies or hobbs are, sorry, so I don't know if they're like Wildfolk. This one's a gnome, and you also get sprites, sylphs, salamanders and undines. They're wold and pesky." She gives her gnome a mock frown, then smiles. "But very loyal."

[turtledove_jill]

(OOC: And one of these days I'm going to properly spell-check all my comments before hitting 'post.' *sigh*)

[artsy_jilly]

Jilly nodded. "I've never seen a gnome until now, and I've only ever read about the other things you mention. How'd you come to have this little guy with you?"