THE DESERT ROSE
The Duchess of Sandspell
Name: Yasmin Melek Yıldırım Age: 30 Pronouns: She/Her Occupation: Duchess Dukedom: Sandspell FC: Esra Bilgiç Status: Played by Admin B
About
If there was a flower to bloom in adversity it would be you. Growing up as another face among the crowd, you are more than just another noble in a position of a power- you are the heart of your people and there is a reason they've chosen you to lead. Not only are you incredibly intelligent, having been a skilled spy for the kingdom once upon a time, but you are also an artist, knowing how to gain one's trust and when to lean on others to take advantage of their select skillsets. But, what no one knows is how much of a toll being the people's 'perfect' choice takes upon you.
Occupation
The Duke/Duchess is the ruler of the formidable deserts known as Kum Diyari. They manage the Dukedom's various enterprises, oversee the strategic plans of trading routes, transportation and espionage as well as the preservation of knowledge and artistry.
Biography (TW: Depression, Alcoholism, Addiction, Violence, Self-Harm)
If there was one thing Yasmin could always count on- it was finding solace in the stars. Growing up in the city of artists, she would find herself sprawled out upon some abandoned rooftop. The cool desert air stinging her cheeks as she’d trace the constellations with her eyes. The patterns were ever changing, but the promise of starlight was always the same. Those brilliant shimming lights an ever present reminder that there was beauty amongst the darkness.
For the Yildirims weren’t born a noble breed. They were forgotten faces amongst the crowd. Her grandfather had been engineer who tinkered his life away bringing other’s designs to life, lacking the skills to truly create anything of worth himself. While, her father, the poet, practically embodied the nature of the ‘starving artist’. He must have been charismatic and suave back in the day. An idealistic dreamer sweeping others up in his intoxicatingly dreamy words. That is how he managed to capture the heart of her mother after all. Only, in Yasmin’s lifetime, she had never once met that man.
The man she knew as babacığım was a washed up empty shell of the dreamer he was before, having quickly slipped into a depression shortly after his wife walked out on him. The man Yasmin knew as father was a man who found himself over and over again at the end of a bottle. A man who gambled any spare coins they had away, had a tendency to invite strangers into their home and, when she was toddler, would fail to remember where he last left her. Now that all wasn’t to say he didn’t love her. He adored her very much. So much so, that he throw money he didn’t have at her. He’d take his family out to fancy dinners, borrow money he didn’t have with the promise he’d one day pay the people he took from back. And maybe in part he truly believe that he would. But, between him barely managing to get out of bed during the day to having strange men invade their home and threaten them at night- it all became too much.
So she left. The dusty streets of Kum Diyari becoming her home. Those next few years marked some of the best of her life. Living on the streets was far from easy, but given her upbringing, it wasn’t exactly as if she was accustomed to a cushy lifestyle before and she was used to taking care of herself. But, amongst the boisterous market places and crowds flooded with artists, she felt free. She felt as if a weight had been lifted off her chest, having only the responsibility of herself and herself alone. That and it didn’t hurt that she had met quite the handsome newfound company.
Kaan was unequivocally captivating. He was quick witted charmer who never ceased to live in the moment. He may have been a petty theft out for himself, but she had, maybe naively, believed in him when he promised to have each’s others back. Laying out underneath the luminescent moon, their pinkies locked in an almost childlike gesture as her heavy lids fell close. Her head rested against his shoulder. They were supposed to be each other’s chosen family. They were suppose to be there for each other when no one else would. Only, Yasmin was quickly reminded of how a promise was made up of easy words all too easily broken.
Kaan didn’t just leave her. Yasmin rolled over ready to cuddle up against the man she was smitten with to find that he vanished into the night as swiftly as he had entered her life and cleaned her out along the way. He didn’t even leave a coin to her name. She eventually managed to track him down after weeks of struggling to fend for herself, but when she did, she was met with an accusation rather than an explanation. She had a family unlike him, he so poignantly reminded her. He needed the money to make something of himself while a girl like her? If she was smart, she’d do herself a favor and return to where she belonged.
He hadn’t been unaware of the full situation. She knew that and yet his words couldn’t help, but sting. Her father had sold the last of what they had. She had no home to return to and the one person she had believed wholeheartedly was her family had tossed her aside as if she was nothing. A nobody.
The next few months, Yas spent attempt to fend for herself- shifting from the girl who tried to avoid precarious situations like an attempted mugging or escaping a handsy drunken merchant who sought to take advantage of how innocent she seemed, to seeking them out. She needed money. She needed food. She needed roof over her head and she needed to eat. So, she took a page from Kaan’s book. But, rather than relying on nibble fingers, she was quick on her feet.
She lunged forwards, cloak draped over head to conceal her face from view, as she held a dagger up against a passerby’s neck. It hadn’t been her first mugging, but what she wasn’t expecting was for the woman she had threatened to quickly take the upper hand, pining her onto her back in a matter of seconds.
To Yasmin’s surprise, instead of reporting her to the authorities, the woman saw potential in her. Extending out her hand, the teacher offered to mold her into the perfect weapon. A mercenary for the kingdom who would spy for the crown and whom one would never be able to gain the upper hand on again.
And, oh, how they were right. As the years progressed, Yasemin didn’t just gain notoriety from that of the late duchy of Kum Diyari, she perfected her smile into that of a sharp blade, carrying an eased charm about her that would make others feel comfortable and connected to her enough to share their secrets, but not from ever truly knowing what thoughts were running through her own head at any precise moment. And when it was the late duchy’s time to step down, it was on their recommendation for her to take over.
Yasmin Yilidrim wouldn’t have been the person you’d bet on to make something of herself and, yet, she’s a leader who has managed to steal the hearts of her people. They view her as one of them. The daughter of an artist. A skilled ex-spy. An incredibly intelligent rose amongst the desert who acts with their best interests in mind, making the choice to resist the existing rule after the growing political upheaval from their own. She is a picturesque duchess, managing to come across as mesmerizing and relatable, all while holding her head held high. Her nails, all the while, cutting dipper into the skin around her palms. The weight of the world and her past sometimes becoming far too much for her to carry upon her shoulders- not that she’d ever let it show across her calm facade.
Personality
+ Charismatic: Yasmin has a way of captivating those around her with that of a simple smile. She has an effortless pull of her lips that has a way of putting those around her at ease. She is far from the loudest in the room, preferring to sit back and observe those around her rather than steal the show. But, she has conversing down to an art form.
+ Clever: For a dukedom that values intelligence and ingenuity, it is no wonder that their leader would as clever as they come. Yasmin is a strategic thinker, liking to remain at least ten steps ahead of anyone else in the room. Her open-minded nature and survival instincts allowing herself to think outside the box and connect the dots others might not have picked up on. But, where she may lack, she makes up for by purposely surrounding herself with those she can lean on.
- Secretive: Yas goes out of her way to make sure her true self remains just out of reach. With knowledge is power and she’d be damned if she will allow anyone else to gain a leg up on her.
- Apprehensive: Yasmin spends each day dreading the worst. She’s far too paranoid for her own liking, constantly afraid that someone will use her own vulnerabilities against her or take everything from her once more. Playing the role of an unattainable and perfect leader is more exhausting than she’d ever let on. The scars she has inflicted upon herself, tucked away out of view, and the faint scabs healing over across her palms are proof alone that she isn’t as skilled at holding it all together as she’d like the world to believe.
