REIKA DAHSHIDA
Details
Full Name: Reika Arihari Dahshida
Race: Human-Avialae
Sex: Female
Age: 22
Height: 170 cm (5 ft 6)
Weight: 52 kg (114 lbs)
Birthdate: 1st of Glade, Year 100 of the Age of Steel
Birthplace: Yorunorei, Kalzasi
Profession: Member of the Shadowguard
Housing: Suite of Rooms in Yorunorei
Partners: None yet
Factions: Great House Dahshida
Relations: Third Daughter to Senrian Dahshida
Fluencies: Common, Synskrit
Conversationals: None
Ineptitudes: None
Appearance
Reika is a willowy young woman, her figure often swathed in black fabric that is the proud color of House Dahshida. Her delicate features might not be the most captivating, but she certainly has her charms. People always say that she had her father's eyes – brown and sharp and sees through everything. While she likes her dark hair long, she often puts it up in a careless knot and lets wild strands of hair escape. Unlike most noble ladies, her fingers are calloused from all the time she spent with a bow in her hand and scars on her body that refused to go away.
Personality
Early in life, it had been drilled into Reika’s mind that she was unexceptional. Her parents never shied away from telling her that. She wasn’t stunningly beautiful like her sister or physically gifted like her brother. The word useless was one Senrian Dahshida liked to repeat on her the most. But being the stubborn girl that she is, Reika spends her entire life trying to be the best. To see the look on her parents’ faces when they realize they were wrong. To she can get the power and influence they dreamed of but never could. And though she will never admit it, there is still a small part of her that wants their acknowledgment.
Upon approach, Reika is polite and well-spoken. Bright enough, but when compared to other women, one might consider her unassuming. The young woman can often be found attending various events and leaving very little impression every time. It is a balance she has carefully nurtured for years. A bit of a trick to allow her to mingle seamlessly into any situation and gather information while keeping people’s attention off herself.
Those who know her better will be well-acquainted with her fast wit and sharp tongue, rarely putting a rein on her bolder thoughts. Despite how much time she spends in social events, Reika is at her most comfortable when spending an entire morning tending to Icewing Eagles in the hatchery or taking a long walk across the Night Haven, simply watching people go about their day. It is obvious that she prefers to be left alone most of the time and when someone did try to know her better, she seems to always build an unbreachable wall.
While the young Dahshida acts confident, she hates it when people look down on her. Say that she can’t do something and she will go out of her way just to prove she can. Nothing fuels her fire quite like a challenge. Her wilfulness often makes her take big risks that most will shy away from. If she calculated that something can help her reach her goal, Reika will not hesitate to put herself in peril to get it.
Reika might have a rocky relationship with her parents, but no one can deny that Reika took pride in the name of Dahshida. She is tremendously proud to be the granddaughter of Haruhiro Dahshida and will not tolerate even the smallest slight against her grandfather. After all, he seems to care for her more than her own father ever did. She can see how much Haruhiro cares for their house and she took that to heart. Although there is one thing that she disagrees with him: that is his willingness to simply stand in support of House Novalys. Just like her father, Reika believes that her family deserves more for the services they had done for Kalzasi. They had been in the shadows since the dawn of the city, perhaps it is time for them to start stepping into the light.
History
Ever since she was born, Reika Arihari Dahshida had always been unremarkable. The girl wasn’t the eldest or the youngest, neither was she the most beautiful or the most talented. As a daughter in a family of Avialae, she wasn’t born to lead either. No one paid any attention to her – she might as well be invisible. Her father, Senrian, was too busy solidifying his position as heir, and her mother, Nolanne, constantly reminded her of her failings. She would always be compared with her older sister, Himara, who was perfect and beloved by everyone. Again and again, her mother would point out that with her inadequacies, she would be lucky if the lesser houses even considered marrying her to their sons. But Reika was a stubborn kid, her mother’s harsh words driving her into trying even harder.
But it was never enough.
One day, after she successfully escaped her fussy etiquette tutor, Reika decided that she wanted to do something she liked for a change. The young girl wasn’t the only child that was curious about the eagles, but she was the only one who managed to sneak past the first layer of guards that constantly patrolled the hatchery. Of course, Reika got caught almost immediately, and by her own grandfather no less. Instead of scolding her, Haruhiro seemed to find the young girl’s efforts quite amusing. He let her hold one of the young Icewing Eagles and taught her how to move silently. For once, it was a lesson she had no trouble following and she practiced in secret when everyone was asleep. A few days later, she slipped into the hatchery once more to show her grandfather that she had mastered moving silently. Soon, it became their secret game, Reika sneaking in to see the Icewing Eagles and how long she can stay unnoticed before the Daizoku could find her. The young girl finally found the one thing that she was good at.
Unbeknownst to her, Haruhiro had told her father about the potential he saw in the young girl. For the first time, Senrian Dahshida gave his young daughter the attention she had craved. He showered her with gifts and boasted about her to the family. Reika wanted to make sure that he stayed proud of her and she knew exactly what she had to do. She begged her father to let her learn archery and even though he was reluctant at first because of her mother’s disapproval, he finally let her join her brothers.
By the time she turned seventeen, no one was surprised to find her starting her training as one of Dahshida’s Shadowguard. Life was going well for her and no one could doubt her usefulness ever again. She did everything to please her father, even if she didn’t necessarily agree with it. She collected information for him, befriending noble ladies from various and making sure they talked just a little too much. Countless nights she had spent hidden in abandoned warehouses, dust polluting her lungs, as she made note of illegal dealings
It was only after a particular mission that ended the lives of her friends and someone she loved that Reika finally realized something. That she had been foolish all these years, that her father valued her more as a tool than as a daughter. The young woman swore she would never be another mere puppet in someone else’s big game again. Still, Reika wasn’t delusional. She was a nobody. Just another lady in a big family. The young woman would have to bid her time and slowly make her way up the food chain. Even if it took years, she was more than ready to do so.
These days her eyes are set on strengthening her family’s standing. The young woman has always been proud of her lineage and loves her grandfather, but she doesn’t quite agree with his stance regarding the Shokaze. House Dahshida had always been content to work in the shadows, supporting Novalys as the light shines on them – and Reika believes that they could be better, do better. It’s been proven that letting the authority pass over with no questions asked had been a mistake and this was an opportunity for her House to show that they are more than capable of leading the people of Kalzasi. This was at least one of the rare things she coil agree with her father. If the only way for her family to finally emerge from the shadows was to follow her father’s agenda, Reika is more than willing to grit her teeth and help him… for now.