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Niera the Acolyte

Niera was a striking figure with auburn hair and piercing large brown eyes, although she only stood about 5'4. Despite her shorter stature, her figure remains lithe, and her face has a gaunt nature that suggest she's gone without a few meals over her lifetime.

She has chosen to pursue a life of religion in the occult, instead preferring witchcraft over more traditional worship. When she isn't bent over candles in rituals, she spends her time stealing food, clothing, and ingredients for her practices. Niera remains very suspicious of others, especially those offering her friendship, and it would take much convincing for her to gain trust in others.

Niera is willing to do anything to become the next Ruler of Kings, whether through spellcraft or stealing.

Acolyte Niera

Advisor Description

Niera kneeled in the grass behind the library in a patch of shade provided by a tree, a book at her feet and a mortar and pestle between her hands. She pinched up some herbs, dropped them into the mortar, and began grinding and mashing the flowers into a fine pulp. The sun was nearing mid afternoon and in the shade goosebumps began to appear on her arms, although there was no shortage of heat around her.

The rustling and crunch of grass beneath feet alerted her to the presence of another. She looked up startled, and lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the sun as she tried to make out the face of the individual before her.

A robust man's voice greeted her ears. "An herbalist, eh? I've seen you around recently, although you mostly keep to yourself."

"I'm not much for company," she replied quickly, still with her eyebrows scrunched as she looked up.

"Is that so? You the book type? I'm Verak, by the way, a priest at the chapel." He held out a pudgy hand.

She glanced at it, put her mortar between her knees, and hesitantly took his hand. "Niera. I'm afraid I'm not very religious."

"Now, you and I both know that isn't true. Not if that book you are looking through is what I think it is." Upon seeing her expression change, Verak raised his hands. "Now now, that's not a problem to me. Each to their own. I don't mean to intrude, just wanted to offer you some water. The afternoon gets pretty warm, you know."

"What do you want?" An instant response. Her face appeared mostly expressionless now - a guarded look that Verak had seen before when someone tried to speak to her in town.

"Well for starters, perhaps a lesson on using a mortar and pestle correctly. Sure, you can mash those forget-me-nots all you want, but you need to give your wrist a little twist and grind them into the side of the mortar. And perhaps you'd be willing to come to a service? I know it isn't what you're interested in, but there's a lot of books like that one that you are looking at back in the chapel."

She blinked, scowled, blinked again, and resumed a face of confusion. "That sounds… acceptable. I still do not know why you bother."

Verak smiled this time. "It is in the nature of my profession to show others kindness. Now if you don't mind, I do have a sermon to preach soon, so I must get going. It was very nice to meet you, Niera."

Niera did not offer a goodbye as he turned away, rather forced a curt nod. It was no lie that kindness was in his profession, but it seemed very odd that someone would want to offer somebody like herself such kindness. Still… an opportunity is an opportunity, and she was never one to turn down the pursuit of knowledge.