( will try to find another pic later, I know that's fanart of Urbosa ): )
Name:
Nadijah of the Razordancers; second daughter of Farajah, the One-Eyed Watcher of the Sands. Or Nadi for short.
Race:
Gerudo
Gender:
Female
Appearance:
Nadijah is a striking sight to behold - literally, because she's liable to thrust a weapon your way before offering a hello. Dark skinned and built with lean muscle, she stands at an imposing 6 feet and then some, tall among her people, taller yet in the eyes of foreigners. As is expected of a proud Gerudo, Nadijah carries herself with the poise and pride befitting a warrior - most of the time, anyway. It doesn't take much to make her drop into a battle pose when startled, or down into a squat to pet whatever strange fluffy creature she comes across.
Nadijah's hair is a fiery red as is common for her kind, tied back in a messy ponytail. The deep bronze of her skin is contrasted by the green of her eyes; light, like saplings. Or so she's been told; saplings are a rare sight in the desert. She doesn't carry much in the way of clothes, her heritage ensuring that she needs little protection even in the hot summer sun of the desert. She does have a cloak on her person for when she needs to keep a lower profile or shield herself from the cold (or her understanding of cold, anyway - please don't let her ever see snow) but in general she finds armour and heavy clothing too restrictive. Anything that makes her movement less fluid must go. This does mean that the signs of battles past lay bare to the naked eye; burns from fire magic, cuts from claws and blades.
One would think that the many weapons she carries around would be more a hindrance than another layer of leather, but her priorities are rather set in stone. Her twin scimitars, bow, and dagger mean the world to her, and if she could have strapped her warhorse to her back to carry it around on her journey, she would have. No, really. She would have.
Personality:
Nadijah is first and foremost a warrior of her tribe, duty-bound to protecting her land and people come what may. She's prideful and matriotic, and has been known to react badly to any perceived insult towards her country or kin. Xenophobic and mistrustful of 'outsiders' - particularly those of voe variety - she is difficult to approach and even more difficult to befriend. Not that you'd want to befriend her based on first impressions anyway; she's stubborn, hot-headed and lacks the common courtesy not to voice unpleasant opinions out loud in polite company.
With that said, she's well aware that it's one of her own who's responsible for the world's current, sorry state, and the guilt has dulled her sharp tongue somewhat. After all, when outside the valley, she indirectly represents her people, and should strive to contrast Ganondorf's actions. She's-- just not always successful at it. Impatience is her greatest sin, and she wasn't blessed with much forethought; if she wishes something to happen, it ought to happen now. Consequences be damned.
But though she's ridden with faults, she is no monster. Nadijah's bluntness ensures that you will get an honest opinion should you ask for it, and it also makes her a poor liar. She fiercely cares for her own, and is willing to risk life and limb for a cause she believes in. And though she holds no love for foreigners, she at least holds an immense amount of curiosity towards them, being both willing and eager to learn about them and theirs. True, this willingness stems from the thought that one should know their enemy to best fell them, but could eventually, perhaps, lead to grudging respect-- maybe even friend-acquaintanceship.
Of course, as often is the case with Nadijah, she takes this curiosity a tad too far. Rude and intrusive questions aren't uncommon of her, and neither is downright poking, prodding or snatching things that she wishes to examine closer. So keep your fancy gadgets and especially unique weapons far away from her. She will get aggressively giddy over the latter and pelt you with questions until her curiosity is sated. This also goes for critters of the grasslands. Many of them she's only seen in storybooks, so don't worry if she tries to precariously pet a wolf. It's the latter that's in danger.
Background:
Nadijah was born among her fellow Gerudo, and up until recently, they were all she knew. Her mother was a renowned warrior, her father a mere flicker of a presence within a society not meant for his kind. Come with the dusk, gone with the dawn, Nadi never asked for his name - and her mother never offered it.
As far as Nadijah can remember, her early years were spent in normalcy. She played with others her age, practiced swordplay with wooden blades, shot dulled arrows at immobile targets and learnt to sit atop a horse without fear of falling. It never occurred to her to wonder why such things were important for children to learn, or for adults to master. At least, until she was old enough to understand what "war" meant - and that the tensions leading up to it had been brewing for a while. Nadijah did not fight in it herself, all too young to be sent to the frontlines at least among the first few, but she did experience its horrors second-hand.
Farajah had always been the xenophobic sort, and the war did nothing to make her talk of outsiders more fondly. As such, Nadijah learnt to resent and mistrust people she'd never met, and to believe that nothing good came out of associating with them. They hated the Gerudo, and the Gerudo ought to hate them in turn. Notably, her mother was also an avid supported of Ganondorf, believing that with his lead, they would reign supreme and claim more hospitable lands for their children and children's children.
They did not. When the war came to an end a little over a decade ago, its terms were anything but favourable to the Gerudo. Seeing Ganondorf bend the knee to a king that confined the Gerudo within a valley bordering a dangerous, haunted desert, was too much for many Gerudo to bear, and their opinions on him seemed to split. Some were disappointed, furious, claiming they would've preferred to fight to the death rather than surrender, yet others claimed he was wise to save what he could of their kind, and that he had other plans to rise to power yet. Farajah, and by extension Nadijah, seemed to go back and forth between the two extremes. Angry at what happened, hopeful that it wasn't the end.
The end of the war did not mean the end of Nadijah's training. If anything, Farajah became even stricter, determined to make her a fine warrior the next time a war broke out - which she hoped, believed, was soon.
But when Ganondorf finally took over, as he'd promised, the Gerudo soon learnt exactly what they meant to the man. Even with him at the throne, their life had hardly improved - on the contrary, they now had even more monsters to worry about, with no more land or food at their disposal than before. But though it was the final straw to many, and they were quick to denounce Ganondorf, only few rose against him - with no success.
Of late, Nadijah's mother fell ill. Exhaustion and hunger did her in, and it was then Nadijah's own anger and frustration reached a fever pitch. She was done just twiddling her thumbs. Her whole life she'd done nothing but trained. It was time to actually put it all to use. If no one else did anything, she'd go and meet Ganondorf herself and demand from him the aid the Gerudo deserved. They were his people! Gerudo had no one else - surely he'd understand. And if not-- she'd make him understand.
With that, Nadijah left behind her desert home and set out into the world at large. Her intention was to head straight for the castle - but she quickly learnt that it was easier said than done, and the state of the world she saw shocked her. Was this truly the kind of a world their king wanted? But why? What good did it do to anyone.
Recently, she arrived to Kakariko village both to take a breather and to try a more indirect approach to the castle, navigating her way through the eastern mountain range. She did not expect to find others there.
Likes:
↑ Horseback riding, especially when combined with archery. Challenge her if you dare!
↑ Climbing; the higher the better.
↑ Food. Any food. Just. Food.
↑ Any small, cute, or fluffy animal, whether they return the sentiment or not.
↑ Weapons, especially unique or finely crafted ones will have her frothing at the mouth.
Dislikes:
↓ Waiting - for things, people, anything at all.
↓ Cold weather; she cannot deal.
↓ Losing, and will try to talk any loss into a win, or at the very least a draw.
↓ Politics, she doesn't get 'em.
↓ Swimming, because she can't, and will sink, and that's embarrassing.
Skill:
âš” Gerudo Warrior | Fighting, fighting and-- hm, fighting? A one-trick pony as far as skills go, Nadijah excels at combat and little else - but when it comes to combat, she shines like the desert sun. She's adept at archery, both on horseback and off, and can wield two scimitars as if they were extensions of her own arms. She's extremely nimble for someone her size, displaying a fierce kind of grace when she dances with a blade or two in hand, and can pull out a hidden dagger faster than most eyes can follow. Like the rest of her tribe, she's also used to surviving in harsh weather conditions, and is thus quite hardy and difficult to wear down, both in combat and outside of it.
