#yapasaurus

📚 [BOOK STACK] -> What is your Original Character's story? Not just in SSO's canon main story - what is your Character's deal in general?

I worry I can't explain it well. Sometimes I wonder how much I even understand it, myself. Alina starts out confident, but over time, the situation on Jorvik squashes her down, until she's painfully complacent. She wants to help, she wants to be part of something, but circumstance, and often the higher-ups of the KoA, make her feel like she has nothing to offer except Jesse, the lovely Jorvik Wild Horse she bumped into during a trail ride. A horse who's not even her real Soul Horse. Her actual intended Soul Horse, Shoji, was too volatile to bring with her, so he missed out on his chance. Partly due to his volatility, they took their time getting to know one another - and their Soul Bond was severed before it properly formed, overriden by Jesse's unique Wild Horse magic. Now Shoji's magic, and Alina's, are locked away. She really can't help. It doesn't stop her from wanting to be useful, so she does whatever she's told, even things that nobody else is willing to do- such as go to Pandoria for research purposes. And in Pandoria, she finds little Wynn, an orphaned foal. She can't save Jorvik, but maybe she can save him.

So Alina accidentally becomes this baby's new mother, and because he is Pandorian, she accidentally gains the begrudging benevolence of the other nearby Pandorians- doing a good deed for their home is doing a good deed for them, and they repay favours. Wynn, who considers this utterly un-special human to be his family, sort of… connects her, permanently, to Ydris, who thinks himself Pandoria's mouthpiece. It ties the goal of the Sisterhood to Pandoria, forces them to recognize that they can't just save one world. (Or, at least, it should.) But Ydris is… a controversial topic, especially when it concerns Alina, because he was Extremely Cruel To Her at one point, and it has made it hard for any of the Keepers/affiliated to see him in a sympathetic light, including Alina's own horses. Jesse starts pulling away, siding with the druids and leaving her behind. Part of them knows that they were never really soulmates, anyway. In turn, however, Shoji gets the opportunity to step up, sticking by her side even when he disagrees with her- the theme of their relationship is meant to be something like "choosing to love unconditionally." They were denied their soul bond, but they choose each other anyway. (Meanwhile, part of Jesse's reasoning is that he didn't get a choice.)

Befriending Ydris comes with something new, something special; Magic. He sees that she has some kind of potential, and he sees that he can use it, so he offers her a taste of what she's been denied. Unfortunately for him, it's hard to use Alina for his own gain when she and Wynn both treat him with... undeserved kindness. Good heavens, he grows to actually care for her. So she gets her magic and the backing of one of the strongest forces in Jorvik, and all it took was a little kindness and a lot of bravery kyaaaa And she's still, technically, aligned with the Soul Riders. So they have that power, too. And I haven't done any quests since like 2024 so idk how the main story is going 🫡