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Post by Admin on Mar 20, 2016 19:59:26 GMT -5
Personality
Keturah has a very strong sense of what she believes to be right or wrong and she also has an incredible determination to right every wrong. Usually this "righting" is done by killing the offenders. She has a belief that the weak need to be treated just as fairly as the rest and that no horse should be treated as less than another. Slavery is one of her biggest hatreds and she will fight viciously to oppose it. She believes that she should treat others how they treat more than just herself, but others as well. If they are cruel, then she will be twice as cruel to them. If they show kindness, then she will make an effort to be twice as kind to them. Of course, she does have a tendency to hold grudges and show a bias along with a nasty temper that flares up constantly. She is assertive and feels best when she is in charge, not because she likes power, but because she thinks she can do it better most of the time. She has a great sense of pride, often remaining too stubborn to fix a screw up she did instead of admitting she was wrong. That being said, she doesn't often think she's wrong. She never truly had any friends, but would remain fiercely loyal to any that she gained. The only lives she takes lightly are those of who oppose her.
History
From the beginning, expectations had be set high for Keturah. She was born as the first daughter to a King and Queen. They were incredibly strict as to how she ought to behave and would often belittle her if she did something slightly wrong. Often, her father was busy dealing with the herd members and other affairs, but her mother was the powerhouse behind the herd. The Queen was known to be fierce and not many dared to go against her in battle, her grip on the throne was iron. It was because of such the high standard that the Queen had set, that Keturah spent most of her days training in battle. There were many guards, considering it was a large sized herd and she wouldn't end her day until she had sparred a decent amount of them. It wasn't rare for her to return to her home battered, bruised and still bleeding. Her mother adored this and adored her, often insisting they stay together while the both of them were around for the night's sleep (her father usually wasn't around). They had an alright relationship, her mother caring more for her as a pawn to use in a game of war rather than a daughter. She detested her mother, aggravated by the constant hovering, patronizing and almost impossible standards to match. Despite this, Keturah aged well. She maintained a strong physique from she drowning herself in training in an attempt to escape her emotionally stunted family life. It was well known throughout the herd not to oppose the Queen or her darling daughter, considering they both were frightening beasts when fought against. In time, it seemed as if Keturah was shaping up to be the perfect heir to the Kingdom. There had been a second daughter born, however she didn't face any of the trails that Keturah had to. No, her sister had been born weak and didn't seem to carry the strength that she had beaten into herself over the years. There was only one thing holding her back from truly becoming the heir; a simple ritual had to take place. It was required of any leader that they had to gather some piece of jewelry from one of the horses that were kept at a farm a few days journey away. It was also a requirement that the horse it was stolen from had to be killed before it could be removed. It was meant to show how truly fierce and brave the future leader would be, considering it was dangerous to go to the farm anyway.
Nevertheless, Keturah eagerly accepted her task. It was her goal to usurp her mother and take the throne for herself. There were many things that she felt had to be changed, however she knew she had to go through the rings and become strong and respected enough on her own. She wasted no time in beginning her journey, arriving at the farm in almost record time. From what she could see, it was some sort of showy, costume like place. All the horses in enclosures were piebald and looked draft, matching her own height. It looked like it'd be quite the challenge, so she hung around the forest a little ways off and rested. She took that time to observe the farm and learn when a quiet time would be for her to make her move, especially considering not all the horses wore a costume piece at all times. There were a few younger horses who seemed to be left with them on for longer periods of time and it was those that she began taking interest in. After some time had passed and she had regained her strength from the journey, she made her way to the farm when she knew it would be at the most quiet. There were a few younger horses out and she made it into the enclosure easy enough through a part of the downed fence. The farm horses didn't seem to bother with it, considering it was swampy around the area, but it made for a perfect entrance. She was noticed quickly, but made small talk with the younger horse. The black and white was actually rather friendly and not quite as naive as Keturah would have thought a farm horse to be. After talking for some time, she decided that killing this youth was not something she intended to do. Instead, she talked the horse into lending her it's pretty headpiece so she could 'show her family'. The farm horse was pleased that it'd be able to show the 'ferals' something civilized and only requested Keturah return it shortly, lest the owners be mad. Keturah easily agreed and made her way back out of the pen and to the denser forest where she would find her way home again.
However, things didn't go quite as planned. She had failed to realize that one of her mother's guards had followed her as per order of the Queen. He called her out on not killing the horse, claiming she was a coward and not fit to become the rightful ruler. He said he would inform her mother and have judgement passed on her actions. Keturah couldn't allow that, however, she needed to become ruler if she were to take over and make things right where her mother made them so cruel. It was then that she decided the easiest way would be to dispose of the guard. He was smaller than she was and she knew that she'd put herself through hell and a lot more training than whatever a guard had to deal with, so she attacked him. The fight itself didn't last very long and she soon found her hooves and maw splattered with his blood. She worked it to her advantage, wearing the blood like a badge when she finally returned home, wearing the silver halter. Her mother was incredibly pleased, accepting her daughter as the rightful heir. For the first time in a long time, her father came around and congratulated her on the accomplishment. The entire herd was in celebration, the majority pleased that such a strong mare had been promised the throne. Before the ritual could be completed though, her mother insisted they take a trip together. Keturah agreed, figuring now may be the best time to pull an assassination attempt. At home her mother always kept guards, but now her mother promised it'd just be the two of us. "Two strong mares like us can handle ourselves," she had said.
The two left on their journey, which her mother had not given a set time for. Several days had passed (maybe even a week, Keturah wasn't sure) and she was growing tired. It was such a long walk and her mother refused to budge on giving any detail of where they were going. However, she didn't want to attack her mother until after she had seen what was so special. It was on a night when the moon had fully sunk into darkness that to Keturah'S shock, her mother attacked her. How dare she lie about the ritual, her mother screamed, how dare she kill one of her own mother's guards! The pieces began to fall into place and Keturah realized that her mother had not only sent one guard, but two. The fight between them was long and bitter, eventually ending when her mother stumbled and nearly fell. Keturah no longer had the strength needed to land a killing blow, so she chose to flee instead. Though maybe "flee" is far too generous, rather she limped and stumbled through the forest, bleeding all over the plant life and trees in an attempt to get away before her mother could get a second wind. Eventually, it seemed she had gone far enough and she collapsed under some low pine trees.
The next day, Keturah was utterly shocked to be awoken by another horse, though this one a far more friendly face than the last one she had seen. It was a very petite, lovely chestnut mare who showed a concerning amount of concern for Keturah'S health. She wasn't really sure how to react, but she accepted the help of the mare and followed her back to where several other scrawny mares waited. They began to work on her, leading her to clean water to wash her wounds off in an attempt to drive off infection. It took a lot of work, but the mares eventually got her looking whole again. They bid her farewell, insisting that she hang around the river and that they'd return the next day to look after her. She did as they said and the mares did return. They continued returning for quite some time after the initial encounter too, helping Keturah return to health. Eventually, she began to question where the mares went each night, why she couldn't come and just why they were so scrawny all the time. The answers she got were vague, enough to drive her to follow the mares back one night. What she saw disgusted her, the mares were being held captive and abused by a group of bachelor stallions. From all the help they had given her, she couldn't stay idly by as the mares were hurt any further. She marched right into the group, ordering the mares to run and telling them she was about to kill their captures. The mares were at a loss of what to do, too scared to run and not wanting to leave her alone while the stallions began circling. She continued yelling at them to run until the mares finally listened and took off. One of the stallions attempted to go after them, but that was when Keturah charged him. She managed to get a good hit on his leg before the other stallions rushed her. It became an incredibly violent and bloody fight, only ending when Keturah finally collapsed to the ground and the killing blow was delivered.
When she awoke again, the world seemed far colder and much more empty. She made an attempt to locate the mares, but never managed to find them. Some time later, she discovered that she was meant to be judged now and placed into either this Utopia place or the Underworld. It seemed one of the leaders was meant to decide her fate, but that was the last thing she wanted. How dare they try to place a label on her hide after she spent her entire life repressed by who she was born to be and all the titles it added up to? As far as she was concerned, she wanted nothing to do with either of them and would gladly reject both.
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