thank you @cresu @neloths-tea and @honeybeebunny111 for the tags! <3
passing the tag onto @helloskitty99 @skyrim-forever @changelingsandothernonsense and @chronicgirlfailure
WARNING: there WILL be some minor-moderate spoilers for my fic in here
Age: 28 (possibly 29 by the end of my fic, depending on how the timeline goes) (she was 25 when the Dragon Crisis happened)
Born: 13th of Morning Star (The Ritual)
Occupation: Listener of the Dark Brotherhood
Amara was born & raised in a remote region of the northern Druadach Mountains, where her mother's clan, called Black Wing, has lived for as long as anyone can remember. She's the third of four children, and the only daughter. At age 4 her family discovered that she had the gift/curse of prophetic dreaming, and it was decided by the council of elders that she would be mentored by the clan's wise women. The intent was that Amara would eventually become a shaman, and serve the clan as a spiritual leader. All went as planned until she was 16, when the clan was attacked by a Nord militia out of Markarth. They were hunting her father, who had been a close associate of Madanach during the Forsworn Uprising and had escaped the city on Madanach's orders when Ulfric and his men came to retake it for the Nords. Amara escaped from the initial attack with her younger brother, but they were chased & cornered at the top of a large waterfall. Rather than be killed or taken prisoner, Amara's brother grabbed her and threw them both over the falls in a last desperate attempt at escape. They survived the fall into the river below, but as they were swept through the rapids her brother was killed when the current threw him head-first into a large boulder. Amara eventually washed ashore downstream, badly injured and completely alone in the world.
Fearing that she'd be hunted and killed if she stayed in the Reach, Amara left her ancestral homeland and wandered Skyrim for years, keeping to the wilderness and avoiding Nord society as much as possible. She spent a few years living with a coven of witches in the Rift, where she began embracing the darker side of magic and alchemy, as well as learning how to wield daggers as weapons rather than simply as tools.
At 25 she gets caught up in the Dragon Crisis. [I'm still working out most of the details of this part of her life so I don't have much to share yet] After slaying Alduin she returns to the wilderness. Jarl Balgruuf had offered to make her Thane of Whiterun, but Amara would rather die than ever be assimilated into Nord society.
Three years later she's travelling south for the winter when she encounters Cicero and his broken wagon on the road, and this is where my fic telling the story of her journey through the Dark Brotherhood begins.
Cicero: where do I even begin with these two? Cicero is everything to Amara. Her mentor, her friend, her Keeper, and eventually her lover. They're soulmates in the truest sense, fated to be together. He's the orange cat to her black cat. Their respective roles within the Brotherhood combined with the trauma they've experienced (together and separately) makes them incredibly weird about each other - they're obsessive and codependent and would each die for the other without hesitation. They need one of those "Bonded Pair - DO NOT SEPARATE" signs that you see at animal shelters.
Gabriella: Amara's particular friend within the Dark Brotherhood. They're both usually quiet & solitary individuals, but start bonding when Amara shows interest in befriending Lis, Gabriella's pet frostbite spider. The two women share an affinity for things generally considered morbid and repulsive by others, and both of them understand what it's like to be looked down on by the Nords of Skyrim because of their heritage. Gabriella is the only one who knows about Amara's relationship with Cicero before the Dawnstar Sanctuary is established, a secret she discovers when Amara needs help to cover up the miscarriage of an unplanned pregnancy.
Ciaran: Amara's childhood sweetheart. An apprentice silversmith, he gave Amara an amulet in the shape of a beetle on her 16th birthday, a token of her devotion to Namira that she still wears to this day. Ciaran was killed fighting alongside Amara's father during the attack on their clan.
Magic: Amara inherited her father's magical gifts, although they practised different schools of magic. Her father was skilled in Destruction and Conjuration, while Amara grew up learning Alteration and Restoration, with just a bit of Destruction. She learned Illusion magic from the coven of witches she lived with for several years, and showed such natural talent for it that it became her main skill.
Alchemy: Amara also inherited her mother's talent as an herbalist, with a particular affinity for fungi. She's been mixing potent potions and poisons since she was old enough to hold a mortar & pestle.
Survival skills: having no one to rely on after losing her clan, Amara was forced to learn how to look after herself, and she rose to the occasion magnificently. She already had the skills necessary for foraging and crafting, and through trial and error learned to be an excellent hunter.
Stealth: as small and quiet as she is, Amara can easily pass unnoticed if she wishes, especially if she's employing her skill as an Illusionist.
Compromise: as you'd expect from someone with the soul of a dragon, Amara is incredibly stubborn and strong-willed. She wants to do everything her way ONLY.
Hyper-independence: having been alone for so long, Amara is basically allergic to asking for help or advice. It's a mark of how much she trusts Cicero, and eventually Gabriella, that she's willing to show any kind of weakness in front of them.
Assimilation: Amara accepted her destiny as Dragonborn willingly enough, but had no interest in sticking around to be revered as a Nord hero after Alduin was dealt with. Jarl Balgruuf was kind enough to her when she was in Whiterun, but she knew the rest of the city only tolerated her because of her Dragonborn status. To stay and be accepted, she would have to give up her culture entirely & turn her back on the Old Gods, and she'd rather die than do that.
Her own mortality: Amara has survived so many things that should have killed her, that she no longer really thinks about death as a possible outcome in any situation. This makes her brave and daring, but also reckless and stupid at times.
As a child, Amara was a strange combination of cheerful and morbid. She was happy more often than not, but also very serious, utterly devoted to her study of magic and alchemy. She loved foraging for mushrooms, playing with insects, and spending time with her family.
After losing her clan, she was deeply unhappy for a long time, leaning on her faith in the Old Gods to help her survive.
Now, as Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, she's still quite serious and morbid, but she's starting to rediscover happiness with her found family. She never truly gets over the loss of her clan, but the love she's found with Cicero makes the pain of it easier to bear.
Amara doesn't engage in open combat unless she has no other choice. She prefers to simply sneak past her enemies if she can, or use Illusion magic to make them either ignore her or fight each other.
If she absolutely has to fight, she wields a dagger in her left hand and magic in her right.
She did claim the sword Dragonbane from Sky Haven Temple, but prefers not to use it since her small stature means she has to wield it two-handed like a greatsword.
Her facial tattoos (the design is meant to mimic the creeping hyphae of fungi)
Her height (she's just barely 5'2)
The back of her right hand is badly scarred from being bashed against rocks as she was swept through the same river that killed her brother
She has a scar on her neck from when Cicero almost cut her throat after finding her in the Night Mother's coffin
Amara is an excellent dancer
her skin is darker than I'm able to portray in-game, enough so that she's sometimes mistaken for a light-skinned Redguard from a distance
she's straight, but has tried gay sex
she experiences 3 miscarriages before finally having a child with Cicero, a little girl with her mother's amber eyes and her father's red hair [I can't tell you the child's name because Amara hasn't decided yet lol]
blakekathryn
snowghoul
ellievsbear
tangentwithtanner
yousharknotpass
