TinkeringTurian
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Saphira's character sheet
🕑 Added 2019-04-16 04:49:22 +0000 UTCThe seventh monthly character sheet has been made. This time, the backstory is about Saphira, the dragoness you meet in the woods. This sheet, along with an NSFW version thereof, can be found on the website over at http://www.koboldadventure.com/charsheet/index.html#saphira
On top of the new character sheet (with an accompanying, four thousand word long story), there is new art, new audio, and a bunch of new fan art. The version number has been increased to 2.495 (Saphisheet). Without further ado, here is the SFW version of the story:
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Part one: The future queen
Lady Saphira is a princess of one of the many kingdoms that comprise the grand Dragon Empire. Expelled from the palace she grew up in by her father, the blue-scaled dragoness has spent a large part of her life in and around the Varanarian court. Despite her fortuitous upbringing, Saphira has had a hard life, filled with adversity, and challenges that she was never fully prepared to take on. Will her luck change, or is she doomed to be a slave to misfortune until the end of times?
King Onyx, and his wife Diamonde, were ecstatic when the queen gave birth to her first child. They named their baby daughter Saphira, matching the whelpling's azure-tinted scales. She was her father's pride and joy. An heir, to take over the kingdom, should he come to pass. The fruit of his loins. The culmination of his marriage. He took her everywhere he went. Showed her to every noble in the empire. She would be his heir. And nothingwould get in the way of that.
A few years later, a second child was born. Saphira's little sister, Ruby. Of course, Onyx was proud that he'd sired another baby girl, but his first daughter remained his unspoken favorite. After all, it was the eldest of the two that would end up inheriting the kingdom. And, if she was to rule, she would have to be trained to act, to judge and to fight like a monarch.
While Ruby was still in her cradle, the exceedingly young Saphira was being taught how to behave like a proper lady. She was told how to eat, how to drink, how to walk and how to talk. Before she reached double digits in age, the queen-to-be was already the star of banquets and galas, some of which were held in her very honor. Her father introduced her to everyone important, from military men, to the greedy old bastard that kept track of the royal finances. Knowing who and who not to trust, was an invaluable skill for the future sovereign to learn.
Part two: Warrior woman
Years went by, and the heiress was growing up to be a proper lady. But knowing how to act at the dinner table alone, was not enough to make her a worthy queen. While her sister was learning math, she was to be taught how to fight. Her father had hired an old, retired general, to show her the ropes. A spirited, elderly man that had taught the king himself how to fight when he was little, and that had served in many'a military campaign under Onyx' rule. There was nobody in the realm, who knew more about war than he did. He would be the one to train Saphira.
In the city's old coliseum, she would be whipped into shape, by an old geezer from an era long gone, when things used to be different. When people were tough, punishments were handed out like candy, and physical abuse was the norm, instead of the exception. Yes, Onyx very well remembered the times he was viciously beaten by this savage of the battlefield. The pain made his hide tough and thick, the lust for revenge made his arms strong, and a few cheap shots reminded him to keep his guard up. So, too, would it be for his daughter.
But, unlike her father, Saphira had, thus far, been trained to be a lady. She'd been told by her mother, to never to raise her hand at another living being, not even a lowly kobold servant messing up her food. Up until now, getting her hands dirty, was out of the question. If she had any grievances to settle, the myriad of guards present at all times, would do it for her. But that was all about to change.
Part three: Knuckle sandwich
On the very first day of her combat-tutelage, the young girl felt something that she had been mostly spared of until then: pain. Her barbaric tutor showed her no mercy. She was brutally beaten, to within an inch of her life, while her bodyguards stood by and watched. They had strict instructions not to intervene. And, at the request of the old general himself, they would no longer accompany her after the first time. After all, what better way to test her newfound battle prowess, than by walking the streets by herself, and fending off any would-be assailant?
Saphira was sent home battered and bloodied, limping and barely able to see through her bruised eyes. When she arrived at the palace, collapsing in front of her parents, her mother was so shocked she nearly fainted! But her father laughed it off, fondly recalling the first time he himself came home from practice, oh-so long ago. It was the nature of the beast, something his once-again pregnant wife couldn't possibly understand. In order to get tough, you had to be beaten down. Again, and again, and again. So, it would be.
After an entire week of recovery, the blue-scaled princess was sent to be trained for the second time. Traumatized, she begged and pleaded for her father not to make her go, but it was of no use. His mind was set, and no one disobeyed the king, not even his own offspring. As Saphira walked down the lonely road towards the coliseum, she considered running away. Escaping. Ditching her family, her obligations, and her right of succession. But what would she do, on her own? How much did she really know about the world? Not enough. If any bandits crossed her path, she'd be deadbefore making it to the next town over. In a way, perhaps her dad was right. She did need to learn how to fight.
Despite the future queen's self-renewed ambition, that day, something that nobody could have predicted happened during training. You see, there were a few things that the king did not know about his old military friend. In his spare time, the ex-general was a deranged sadist, getting into street-fights so he could beat his opponents to near-death. On top of being overly bloodthirsty, the old man also held the firm idea that women did notbelong on the battlefield. Now, with the princess' bodyguards no longer present, he could show his true colors.
Part four: A sadist and his prey
Once again, Saphira was beaten to near death. Her trainer did not stop hitting her, no matter how much she screamed out in pain, her developing body being stricken over and over again, until her blue scales turned purple and black. Keeping up appearances, he told her that he was merely teaching her about the fragility of the female frame. And so, the tutor left his apprentice, broken down and huddled up, crying on the ground. It wasn't come nightfall, that she managed to pick herself up enough, to crawl her way home.
She tried to tell her father what her mentor did to her, but it was of no use. The king himself was thoroughly beaten when he was little. And by telling him about it, she had failed to learn the principle lesson: to harden, to suck it up, to tough it out. Life as a monarch wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. There would be tough days ahead of the princess. And unless she learned to cope with adversity now, she'd be stumped when the real deal happened to her.
Training continued on the third week. Her clothes were inadvertently torn. Covering herself up, her lack of defence allowed the general to beat her to a pulp. He claimed that in the heat of battle, opposing warriors would not hesitate to take advantage of her, in any way they could. That included ripping her clothes, or using her fancy robe to tug her closer. And if they won? They could do far worse things, than offer a hand to get her back on her feet. After his lecture, she was left alone, in tears again, made to crawl her way home, while half-indecent.
The lesson stuck. She was sickened. Mortified of what would happen, should she lose an actual fight. If her trainer was willing to go this far to prove a point, then what would a real opponent do? During the next lesson, he would show her.
And thus, the perfect princess broke her first bone, crumbling to the hot and gritty sand covering the arena's floor. Even when downed, she was kicked again, and again, and again. To teach her defeat, was her mentor's excuse. In reality, he viewed Saphira as just another victim. A more regal version of the streetfights he was used to. And he had the king's very own permission, to do all he ever wanted to her.
It was only when his sadism was fully indulged, that the combat tutor left the coliseum, leaving the king's daughter for dead. Unable to get up or crawl away, the future queen spent the entirety of the cold, dark night, crying while curled up into a ball on the ground. She had been broken, both physically and mentally. Reduced, to the scared little girl that she was, deep down at her very core.
Part five: The future king
Come morningtime, Saphira finally found the energy to limp back home. She hadn't even been missed. Instead of worrying about her, the family stood huddled around the newly born dragon sibling. A boy, named Emeraude. Due to the right of primogeniture, this whelpling of a younger brother would end up claiming the throne, not the blue-scaled princess. And that meant, all of the training, all of the pain and suffering and humiliation and debasement that she had suffered, were all for naught. She would never be the queen.
In truth, this did not sit well with Onyx either. He had already made sure that one of one of his children was fit to succeed him, and he wasn't going to repeat the entire process because of a slight mishap in the bedroom. According to her combat instructor, Saphira was shaping up to be a fine punching bag. The king could only imagine that meant her training was going well. If he knew what was really going on, he'd have put a stop to it long ago. Heck, he would have murdered the ex-general with his own two hands, if he knew of the excessive violence that had been inflicted upon his daughter. But with his unwanted son taking up a lot of time, and ancient nostalgia clouding his mind, Onyx could not see what was happening to his little girl.
Despite her intense protests, Saphira's training continued for several more years. There wasn't even any point to it anymore, but her father insisted. It was a matter of pride, and comraderie between the king and his old friend. She didn't dare bring up what had happened on the day of her brother's birth. She didn't want to seem weak in front of her father, not with Emeraude threatening to take her crown. Thus, the princess kept the worst of the abuse hidden from her family. She tidied up before going home. Wiped off the worst of the blood, popped bones back into place. Kept up appearances, while her mentor became more cruel with every passing session.
Part six: Not a phase
Maturing into adolescence, weird feelings began to bubble up inside of Saphira's hormonal body. New sensations were starting to emerge. Lustflooded her body, as dirty thoughts occupied her mind. However, the weirdest thing about this all, was that it never happened mid-practice. It was at home, that the growing lady grew interested in more adult things.
Over the years, her mind had been warped. Twisted, by the constant abuse, the fact that her father turned a blind eye, and the loss of her future as a queen. These negative events all had one thing in common: men. Her trainer was a man, her negligent father was a man, and her brother was a young boy. As such, instead of growing a healthy appetite for the other sex, Saphira slowly came to terms with the fact that she liked girls.
She spied on her mother and sister bathing, lustfully watched servant-women get dressed, and stole worn clothing from laundry-baskets, not to wear, but to indulge in the lingering feminine scent. Ultimately, her father caught her red-handed, with a pair of her mother's underwear in her hands.
Part seven: Separation
Saphira had no excuses. No matter how stupid it what she was doing was, it felt right to her. The lesbian lizard came out of the closet, and told her parents that she wasn't interested in boys. At all. She preferred the company of women. They insisted that it was just a phase, that she'd get over it and grow up to be normal, like her mother. But the princess knew, that her attraction to other ladies wasn't a temporary thing. If she wasn't absolutely certain about it, she would have never confessed.
That night, a lot of screaming and arguing and yelling and crying resounded well beyond the palace walls. Onyx could hardly believe it. On top of the right of succession being stolen from his perfect little daughter, she turned out to be a lesbian as well?! What kind of queen refuses to provide offspring to continue the bloodline? Where did it all go so wrong? Did he not shower her with love and affection? Did he not provide her with the best training money could buy? Of course he did.
If word got out, Onyx' prestigious family would become a laughing stock in all of the Dragon Empire. He couldn't let that happen. With a heavy heart, after much internal debate, he decided to send his daughter away to, resume her education at the royal court of Varanar, where she could get a taste of some real diplomacy, while this silly lesbian thing slowly burned out. While the family got some much-needed rest, their servants packed Saphira's bags. The very next day, she was sent away to Varanar, with a convoy of knights to ensure her safe travels. His other daughter, the king would deal with himself.
While the blue-scaled dragoness was, at first, less than enthusiastic about moving to Varanar, the big city still managed to captivate her young mind. It seemed like a place of limitless possibilities, with untold potential for a vibrant royal lady. But alas, she was not to live in the city itself. Her father would not allow her the freedom to explore her urges. Instead, she was taken to the keep, where she was assigned a room to stay at.
Part eight: Fresh hell
The knights went home, their duties taken over by the human castle guards. The princess was not to leave the keep, under any circumstances. Fancy food was freely provided upon request, and she could wander around to her heart's content, all the way from the expansive courtyard, up to the highest tower of the battlements. At Onyx' request, she was allowed to partake in local diplomatic discourse. It was during her first meeting with the Varanarian court, that Saphira discovered that human politics were a lot more under the table than draconic affairs.
The wealthy men in charge of running one of the greatest cities in the world, were every bit as sadistic and cruel, as her combat trainer was before them. Unfortunately for her, Saphira had arrived amidst a resurgence of anti-dragon sentiment in the human kingdom, shared unanimously by people in high places. One bad word out of her mouth, one objection, one notion that maybe there was a better way to resolve the dispute they were discussing, was enough to get them to lash out at the dragoness.
She was harshly slapped, forced to her knees, and made to apologize for her transgression. In front of the entire collective of rulers, she was abused well beyond the point of tears. Once her dress was torn, her muzzle was bleeding, and about half of the men present had each made her beg them to stop, she was sent back to her room. Somehow, she had managed to stumble from one hell into another. And this time, there was no family to go home to, no shoulder to cry on. It was just her, all alone in a cold room, in a strange land.
The next day, Saphira was dragged to yet another meeting by the guards. After all, her father wanted them to ensure her education would go well. Like a fancy new toy, everyone wanted to get their hands on the dragoness. Or, to be more precise: their fists. Even if she remained quiet on the most controversial of subjects, they would demand her opinion. For the slightest of missteps, the princess was heavily punished, crudely beaten and kicked, while begging for forgiveness, all the while the rest of the wicked humans laughed at her debasement. This, according to them, was how alldragonkind should be treated.
Part nine: The baron of Varanar
A week later, after the princess accidentally insinuated that perhaps goblins should not be levied into the Varanarian militia, the mood of the room suddenly turned grim. A heavily scarred man, which she would later come to know as the baron of Varanar, got off his throne-like seat, and walked up behind the dragoness. She was pulled from her chair, and thrown to the cold, hard floor.
How dare a dumb whelpling like her pretend she knows what's best for the human army?! Saphira was kicked in the side, her ribs only barely remaining intact. She was probably a spy, sent to weaken their military! He stomped on her abdomen, with his heavy boot, before unbuckling his pants. With his belt, the baron viciously lashed her over and over again, the other nobles openly encouraging their liege, while her pained cries for help and for mercy, were left unanswered.
For the remainder of the afternoon, the men each took turns abusing their guest, venting rage on her battered body. Once the last of them had bloodied his knuckles, the meeting was adjourned. Saphira was taken back to her room, tossed in a bathtub to clean her wounds, then wrapped up in bandages, and left to heal.
Weeks passed. Daily abuse became the norm for the dragoness. During meetings of the court, she was often the center of attention. The sparse few times that the humans actually discussed what they were supposed to be ruling upon, one or two of the less-interested nobles always saw fit to occupy themselves with Saphira instead. Every day brought new methods of torture. The humans were far more imaginative than her fighting instructor ever was.
Part ten: Nowhere is safe
After a few months of life in pseudo-captivity, some of the more insistent human nobles found their way to the lady's bedroom, to abuse her even outside of the various meetings and discussions. The guards, of course, let them in. None of them left before they'd made the dragoness scream out in pain, regardless of whether it was the middle of the night, early in the morning, in the afternoon, whether she was eating a meal, or writing desperate letters to her father, that would never actually be sent. Even select groups of foreign envoys, of realms far away, were not opposed to the idea of having a royal dragoness as their punching bag.
Life, for Saphira, turned into a blurry series of unpleasant encounters, one fading into the other. Her tutelage went on for multiple years, the baron occasionally reporting to her father that everything was going just fine. Onyx had no reason to distrust the humans. He didn't know about the rampant hatred for dragons, that had spread through the upper ranks of their kingdom. It was a secret hidden in plain sight, obvious to all but the dragons themselves. Thinking his firstborn child was in capable hands, the dragon king sent his second daughter to live in Varanar as well. But, to keep them separated, Ruby would stay at a mansion in the city itself, instead of at the keep. A kinder fate, than what Saphira was going through.
Part eleven: Losing hope
In an attempt to keep her sanity, the imprisoned lady turned to practicing the few useful moves she'd learned during combat training. Propping her bed-mattress against the wall, she beat it like a punching bag, venting frustration until her arms grew weak. This was how she spent most of her free time: improving her physique, like a proper prisoner would. Breaking out of the keep was out of the question, but this way, she could at least stand a chance at fending off some of the more violent humans that found their way to her bedroom.
Alas, the guards were always but a shout away. While one man she could handle, three were too many. And the extra visitors would often end up joining in on the fun. In the end, Saphira learned that compliance made them go easier on her. But even then, she kept her wits about her, looking for any opportunity to escape her assailants' clutches. It's not like any of them would admit to getting their ass handed to them by a dragoness. All she had to do, was make sure they couldn't scream for help.
The dragoness' uppity behavior did little to improve the struggling relationship between the human nobles, and the draconic upper class. If anything, each man she prevented from beating her up, became more in favor of the baron's radical proposals for bloodshed and war. Preparations were almost complete. The powderkeg had been prepared. Now all that was left to do, was light the fuse, and spark a change that would impact the world for generations to come.
Part twelve: Freedom
And what better way to start a revolution, than by exiling a princess-guest, parading her down the main street of the human capital, before crudely kicking her out from the confines of the city walls? Surely, news would reach the dragon king before long, that his daughter was left on her own, in the lawless outskirts of the human capital. If that did not entice him to retaliate, then nothing would. And if she died on her way back home? All the better.
But Saphira didn't die. A lifetime of hardship had left her tough, and resilient. She did have a few unpleasant encounters before reaching the safe confines of Salamar, the town she grew up in. But despite being a bit worse for wear, she made it there alive. However, her parents were nowhere to be found. They had been invited to the court of another lord, and it would be at least another day before they were expected to return.
Instead of waiting for her elders to bring retribution upon the humans, the brash princess decided that this would be a perfect opportunity to show her father how strong and capable she had become, while at the same time enacting revenge upon those that had wronged her. Leaving a note for her parents, she gathered a few knights, the best men the garrison had to offer. Dressed in full combat attire, riding barded warhorses, they set off for Varanar, intent on taking the throne room, and wrestling control away from the miscreants in charge.
Amongst those knights, hid a single, green-scaled boy in disguise, desperate to get away from his royal family. Before the detachment reached the keep, he broke formation, and slipped away into the city. With all three of the dragon siblings having found their way to the capital once more, the human revolution was about to get a whole lot more interesting.
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Remember: there are quite a few differences between this version, and the NSFW version of the story. You can find both on the character sheets page of the game.
Anyway, new art, drawn by TamLin123, has been added to the Varanar, Morning Three scene, depicting Saphira and her convoy of knights. Note that some of the Forest Bandit art is currently pending a slight rework to better fit the princess' new design. They will also be finalized, colored and shaded and all that jazz.
A new background track has also been added. Made by Bloxcast Jason, it sets an intense, yet somber mood for the encounter with the naga in the deepwoods. Let's hope it is the first track of many to come!
Three new piece of fan art have been added to the fan art page. Feldspar, Trefoiler And Latchkey sure did draw some fancy stuff. Go check it out, and go check them out.
Lots of new assets this week, huh? Well, that's all for now. Gotta save something for later, right? I'll post the NSFW version of this character sheet for patrons only, in a bit. You can also find that version on the character sheets page, as I've mentioned like three times so far.
Work on Varanar, Night Three will continue tomorrow. Thank you all for your continued interest in Kobold Adventure, and I'll see you later this week, when I hope I'll have something interesting to say, or something cool to show you! See yah!
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TinkeringTurian
Life is hard, but some manage to thrive.
Vallahd
So what I've learned this far: There are no pleasant lives in this world if you appear in this story.
