Dusk, Daughter of the Desert

There are stories of those that wander the desert. Not wander. They battle the desert. People lost in their grief, pain, madness, which only goal is to meet their final opponent. The one who will finally set their goal, finalize their meaning of life. Dusk has been one of these people for several years now.

A child of the desert she has ever been. Born of a nomadic love, in an oasis near its rim, Lianna Sandwind was the brightest happening of that year. Marked by several sandstorms that ruined their plantations, the coming of a new child gave new mirth to the oasis-dwellers and gave them hope, for it was a sign of better times. And more: elves seldom have children in such environment. For her to be born was a sigh of adaptation, certainly good fortune.

And so it was that that year was easier to survive by. Merchant caravans ended up by finding the oasis, giving it all the inhabitants needed for sustenance. Master of arms came too and one of them stayed, improving the oasis defense skill. The oasis grew and prospered and life became easier. Until the tides changed several decades passed.

None could predict what happened. Nothing pointed to it. Everyone was caught by surprise. The orcs came. Ruthless, merciless, savage. They passed everyone by the sword, leaving no soul behind. Or so they thought. A lone girl appeared from under a sand hole. Her parents had put her there, hidden by her golden locks and golden dress, undistinguishable from the sand around her. A single tear fell from her eyes, as she gazed upon the destruction and the flames that caressed their homes. At age seventy, a youngster by elven standards, Lianna found herself having to survive in the inhospitable desert, the killer of all, the unforgiving one. Her only possessions were a fine sword given by the master of arms, her scouting gear that she was only to wear a few years later and an amulet with her family’s crest on it. Wearing it all, she parts off her native land, where she was born and lived and went to face the desert.

He wasn’t kind and never forgiving, but he was also her mentor and trainer, her professor and father, the training grounds that honed her skills every day. Years passed and Lianna grew into a woman, changed. Lianna was but a mere memory in the back of her mind. She was Dusk, a relentless desert huntress and sellsword, aiming for the hardest challenges she could muster, facing and laughing in front of Death. It is but her mere companion. And the desert. Always the desert. The mentor that never left her, never disappointed her.

No orcs crossed her way that didn’t get their throats slitted. No giant scorpion remained unchallenged wherever she may go. Her sword glitters with the setting sun, her eyes burn with a dark desire of death that never comes, her body speaks of menace and deadly accuracy.

She is the Daughter of the Desert.