Khandro Sakya

Updated Khanie's Artworks and description of Sybal Appearance!
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Name: KHANDRO SAKYA

Nicknames: NANA KHANDRO, KHANIE 

Age: 967

Physical Age: 59

Height: 5'0"

Hair: WHITE

Eyes: DARK BROWN WITH SLIGHT CATARACTS

Growing up so high in the Himalayas, the ultra violet radiation from the sun has prematurely made Khandro's eyes partially blind by cataracts.  She is not completely blind, but her eyesight is very hazy, so she relies on her other senses quite heavily.

Faction:  REFORMED INSURGENT

Khandro was not always against Sybal Heim and it's master. When she first came to the city, she believed it was a blessing and completely reveled in the power that she had been given. She had her prayers answered and she was living. Living forever! And it was that exact reason why she came to hate this cursed land. So young at 59 years old, she was blinded by the excitement of being able to live for so long... but did not know the price that came with that wish. Trapped in this place with no growth, no family, no hardships, no earth to explore... Sybla Heim has become her personal Hell, and she does not wish it on anyone.  She is furious with the master that he continues rip souls from their families, or from wherever and force them to live here forever. Now almost into her 1000th year in Sybal Heim, she fights secretly and hard against the Disciples, and is ready to move onto her next life, even if that life is simply death. No one should live forever.

Occupation: SEAMSTRESS

Khandro is an incredibly skilled seamstress, and after so many years in Sybal Heim, she has become a master at it. She can tell your waist size by a simple feel of her hands, and has made brilliantly intricate handmade designs into fabric.  Many people, if not most, in Sybal Heim wear something she has made, whether that be socks to gaudy dresses.  She knows the styles from all cultures, and most time periods, and there is not much she cannot make.

Sybal Form: RGYAL MO GZIG

Khandro's sybal has characteristics of a snow leopard, ibex, horse and monkey. She is quite tall, approximately seven and a half feet, and as such is quite hefty. Her white head is surrounded by a massive, thick mane that appears almost cloak-like around her shoulders. This 'cloak-mane' is incredibly dense and can withstand lots of physical damage being it is mostly thick fur. Although relatively water resilient, if this mane gets soaked, it will take weeks to get dry and becomes incredibly heavy.  Two massive curled horns sprout from the top of her forehead and spiral outwards forming about a 5 ft spread. On these horns are semi luminous bars on each nodule that emit a soft pulse.  Each horn is incredibly tough, and having a thick skull made of the same material, Khandro's sybal prefers to fight with her hard head. Inside her mouth are large canines and large scissor teeth made for tearing meat from bone. The sybal's main body is actually black covered with her thick white fur, with thick stubby legs that are used for power instead of speed. These legs end in monkey-like phalanges that grip most substances.  A long snow leopard tail ends her appearance with the length only slightly longer than the rest of her body. 

Khandro's physical self is definitely not made for speed, but she is quite powerful.  Her neck alone is probably her most intense muscle as it supports not only her gigantic horns, but the incredibly thick mane.  She is very very heavy, and prides herself in being quite 'immovable'.  This of course is possible, but difficult. Her head and tail are texturally what you would think when you touched them - her fur-soft and plush, but her legs although imitating fur and if you were to feel under the rug are completely different than the rest of her body.  It is definitely solid, but when putting your hand to the 'skin' it would almost feel like water- cold and strangely... unnatural. One final aspect about Khandro's sybal form is that it is always about 30 degrees cooler around her.  This 'aura' extends only about three feet from any direction of the sybal, but it is always quite cool.


Sybal Power: SKY BURIAL

Being from the Himalayan mountains, Rgyal Mo's power reflects those dangerous peaks.  Simply, Rgyal Mo's power is to call upon the skies and make it snow and blizzard.  Her power can be strong enough, that if she calls upon the sky snow, it can literally burry a foe in the snow in minutes.  The main purpose that Rgyla Mo uses Sky Burial is to hide or disappaear. Because it is literally snow coming from the sky, it still takes a while for it to come down, and as such is not used as a weapon.  It is used for slowing down enemies, whether that be hiding in the blizzard that she makes, or making them trudge through deep heavy snow. Rgyal is able to control how much or how little snow can come from the sky, as well as how much water density is in the snow. This means she can make it a heavy sleety snow that makes everything it touches soggy and wet, or beatiful dry powder, just ripe for skiing or kissing your loved one in!

There are of course restrictions to this power.  Rgyal cannot make it snow inside of buildings.  It must be outside.  She can still call on the power inside of a building, but it literally comes from the sky, so it will simply snow around the building she is in. Also, the range of where she calls the snow from is limited.  Although it still quite a large range, she can only make is snow for about 3/4 of a mile with her in the exact center. This is actually a fact she keeps incredibly hidden about herself. Not only is it the farthest range she can go, it's also the closest range she can go- meaning if you were trying to find her when she starts snowing, you would be able to realize where she would be from the edge of the snow circle... only 3/4 of a mile in.  

Docile or Feral: DOCILE

Khandro was able to control her sybal from day one.  She believed as she crossed over inot Sybal Heim that this was just another reincarnation of her soul... which in a way it sort of is... so she slid quite easily into that form.  Although she can easily control herself, she has a couple of personality quirks that are heightened by Rgyal Mo. Stubborness is the most obvious trait.  When she gets her mind set on something in this form, it's like moving a mountain to make her change her mind. Impossible. If she develops an opinion that she's going to butt her head against the towers of Kardia- well, she's going to do it until she loses her horns or someone kills her. Mischeviality(ITS A WORD) and hilarity also come out in leaps and bounds in this form.  She becomes very sassy when with those she knows, and would love nothing more than to put salt instead of sugar in your tea.  Watch your back when she's Rgyal Mo Gzig!

Personality: STUBBORN | QUIET | PASSIONATE | MISCHEVIOUS | SASSY/HILARIOUS/QUIRKY

STUBBORN
Khanie has an opinion, and she will keep it.  Like many people that are a bit ... ahem... older, she gets set in her ways and she likes to stay there.  It can work to her advantage and disadvantage.  Usually, she is quite agreeable with people, and for someone from her time, quite open minded.  But if there is something that she deems is wrong, she will stop at nothing to correct it to what she thinks is right.  This can make her a little frustrating at times.

QUIET
If Khanie does not know you, she is quite quiet.  She simply likes to observe and hang in the shadows to find out something about someone.  You'll never see her in the middle of a group laughing outrageously.  She is very refined and keeps the manners she was taught as a child.  As a woman in Tibet, she was taught to hold her tongue and keep her thoughts to herself. Although she knows Sybal Heim is different, she has benefitted from laying under the radar and keeping her thoughts to herself.  As she does not flaunt anything about herself, she learns things about others, and has been able to keep her status as Insurgent easily unnoticed. Most people brush her off as a silly quite old lady and as such will say things in her presence that most probably would not. Being partially blind helps this too, and she acts as if she's fully blind, 'not seeing' when people wave their hands infront of her face, and not looking at people directly.  Sneaky little lady.

PASSIONATE
This is a trait that Khanie has carried over since she was a young woman in Tibet. Whatever she has done, she has done with her whole heart, and it shows in her crafstmanship and her complete alignment with the Insurgents. In line with her stubborn personality, when she finds something to fight for, she fights until the end- whatever that end is.  She has made weaving and sewing her passion here in Sybal Heim, and is why her clothing is in almost every household.  She loves with all her heart as well as hates with all her heart. She believes there is no middle ground, and if you're not with her - you're against her. 

MISCHEVIOUS/CUNNING
This woman is a sneaky little blighter! Even when she was younger she played tricks on all of the boys in Tibet, and she does it now.  She has a slight feministic view in Sybal Heim, and loves nothing more than being in the shadows and watching someone try and pull a talent that has been glued to the ground.  She is incredibly hard to catch as the one behind the trickery as she watches to see the act and then leaves like a shadow.  She quite quick for an older woman, and knows how to blend with groups of people to not be caught in the act.  Her past as a theif doesn't help very much, and she's just as easy to swipe a few Hemiobols off an poorly tended desk. She doesn't do anything to harm anyone, but she loves to confuse and get people out of their element.

SASSY/HILARIOUS/QUIRKY
You know those old women that just say whatever they want, and it's awesome and hilarious?  That's Khanie to a T. When she knows someone well enought that she'll actually talk to you- be ready for laughs.  She's an incredibly good story teller, and knows just what will be funny and what will be not. She finds humor in most situations, feeling that she has earned the right to laugh at whatever she wants.  Sometimes her humor is a tad dark, but she is simply finding something good in something bad. She also has strange little habits that most would find... well, a little strange.  She's a big believer in old wives tales, and if you've got a cold, you'll most likely have garlic rubbed all over your face if you ask for her advice.  Not really sure if she's just being mischevious, or if she really believe it will help when she does that... but it'll happen none-the-less.

History:

Khandro Sakya was born to a Tibetan Nomad in 924 AD by the name of Thothori Sakya. He was a rough man, used to a rough life, and Khandro was the one that killed his only soft spot, which was Ihamo Sakya- his wife.  This started their relationship off not well.  Thothori wanted sons, but all he was given was Khandro.  He believed her to be bad karma and as she grew he found ways to dish back to the cosmos what he thought was a curse.  The girl was never abused, physically or verbally, but she was worked to the bone.  He gave her no leniency for her age or sex, and as such she grew tough and calloused.  At age 5 she could ride a horse just as well as any 16 year old boy.  Despite her father's rough and harsh ways, the girl loved him and respected everything he did for her.  He taught her what she needed to know to survive the harsh and unforgiving climate of the Himalayas, and she learned much in the time with him.  She soon became his hunting and herding partner, and they tended the sheep and fought Tibetan wolves together side by side. 

Thothori, through all his hardness and anger, grew to love the tiny Khanie, and they became inseperable.  He was a prominant figure among the nomads, and he brought her with him to any political debates. He roughly made her sit in the back saying "Girls should never be in a man's presence." But it was obvious that he wanted her to learn what was going on... because she was the only girl there.  Throughout her young years she sat and listened, learning who was who, what villages were being raided, how people were counter-attacking, etc. etc.  By the age of 13, the girl knew many military strategies, and who was powerful in the cold and dangerous mountains.

As a young girl, she was generally picked on when she was smaller by the older boys, and she learned from their experience too.  She learned of safety in numbers.  She learned that no one acted out of place when grown-ups were around, but when they were gone, anyone was free game.  She learned how to use her little body to her advantage and realized that slow feet meant a quick defeat. The girl soon turned the tables, and boys were tormented by her tricks- somehow finding themselves constantly tripping and spilling precious goat milk, while Khanie looked on as they recieved a deft beating.  The girl could never be caught, and was then thought of as a trickster and a trouble maker among some of the grown people in the village, but none could prove she was the culprit.  She realized she was good at what she did, and although her father never caught her in her naughty acts and was a traditionalist, he was proud of her cunning and knowledge.

Khanie had settled into the nomadic life by the age of 14, until the day of the blood bath.  Raiders came to steal her fathers woolly sheep... and his life.  She was tending her prized mare Momos (meaning dumpling, because the little foal was a total chunker and ate whatever was in sight) when the bandits came.  She saw them from afar off, and knew she could not go back.  Sheep ran wild, their herd of horses quickly gathered, and her father, beheaded before her young eyes.  Without a second thought at her life, she jumped onto Momos and fled for her life.  A few of the men tried to follow, but she was an intelligent and skilled rider, not needing a saddle, and flying as the wind.  She ran Momos for a day and half, the two collapsing among the snow in a tired heap at the end of their terrified ride.  Laying in the snow, the young Khanie stared into the falling sky, not a tear leaving her face.  She knew crying did nothing, and she had to act.  With the resiliance of youth, the girl stood and couldn't help but smile.  She had arrived at a known village not 3 miles off, and she could easily make it there by night.  Urging Momos to her feet, the two walked quietly to the village, sleeping in a quiet stable that night.

It was then that the girl learned how to be a theif.  She quickly realized having nothing meant eating nothing, and even pigs could eat better than her.  She tried once to beg for food, and was beaten harshly.  Cleaning her bruises in a small river next to the town that night, she looked into the water and realized how much she had grown.  She already had a nice fit figure, and with a little combing, her hair would be a beautiful long silky creature.  Gathering all her cunning, she realized she could use her looks to her advantage... as well as Momos.  That night she got to work on herself and the mare, cleaning each until they shined.  She looked a different animal when she was done.  Desirably beautiful, she was already of an age to be married.  As the morning broke over the sun, the girl mounted Momos, elegantly riding side-saddle and clip-clopped into town.  She strode straight to the Inn of the village and dismounted gracefully, calling a young boy to take care of her horse.  Hungry eyes watched her as she walked into the inn, her heart beating fast and her stomach growling at her hunger.  As she walked purposefully up to the manager, she flashed a brilliant smile.  She told the man she wanted a room and he quickly agreed. He asked for payment, and she reached for her belt pouch.  As she opened it, she gave the most pitiful look of dispair, and explained she must have dropped it on her ride over. She explained her father was on the way, and that he would pay when he was their. Her charms and simpers coo'd the man and he happily accepted her into one of his rooms.  Customary to their culture, he then brought a large cup of goats milk, a strong piece of cheese, and a loaf of naan-like bread.  As he left her to eat, although she desperately wanted to devour everything, she rationed everything out, putting the milk into a skin container, and the cheese into her pouch.  She ate a small bit of the bread and put the rest also into the pouch and without another word, snuck out the window to the stable, onto Momos and fled the town.

This became her way of life.  She realized how easy it was to trick trusting men and women into getting what she wanted, and then living by herself.  She found a small cave in the wilds of the Himalayas, and furnished it the way she wanted. The more cunning she got, the braver she became, and soon enough she had a yak, twenty sheep, and a cave full of wonders and trinkets.  Men especially were so easy to trick, it became a game to her to see how many she could have dote upon her in a night. Because of her intense lifestyle, she stayed fit and beautiful for some time.  Again, no one could catch the girl in her trickery.  She was just too cunning. 

That was until Songstan came along.  She had just turned 29 when the 32 year old man came into her life.  He was a trickster just like she was, and he had caught onto her in the middle of a heist.  She would claim until she died that he would not have noticed her if it wasn't for the fact that he had targeted the same man, but ultimately, they both knew she had become prideful and a tad... lazy.  Surprise flashed across her handsome face as the man caught her about the waist before she could flee the barn she was taking a couple lengths of rope from.  She turned in his arms to see who had caught her and was momentarily dazed by his dashing and grizzled face, wrapped in a bandana.  He was about to say something as she suddenly squirmed and lashed out with her feet, tripping them both and easily slipping away from him, her prize left in the dust of the barn. He was a plague after that.  He followed her, ruinning her heists just as easily as she ruined his.  At first the girl was furious. She needed everything she stole! But she soon realized that she did not... she was quite well off in her little cave. It became a game for the two. There was an unspoken rule between the two theives that neither followed the other out of town into the secret place... but they saw each other often.  Years went by, and little by little, the two would stop after a successful win, and have a drink or two at the local inn. Traveling together from town to town was their next adventure, and soon enough, the two were using each other's quick wits to score even greater prizes. Songstan was as silent as she was cunning, and the two could do almost anything together. On the eve of the sixth year that they had met that fateful night, Khanie took Songstan to her secret place, and there they vowed that they would never leave each other from that night on. The two became inseperable, and it was most likely the happiest time of Khanie's life.

When Khanie was 55, the two theives had settled down their ways quite a bit.  They still had energy to travel and do whatever they needed to, but their appetite for theivery had stilled.  Khanie was baren, and they could not have children. So that had been wiped from their minds from the beginning. The two had explored all along the Himalayan mountains, and they had become fixated on one thing.  In a tiny house at one of the highest elevated villages, the two had heard a story of everlasting life.  Their zeal for living had not been dulled, and as they aged, they knew their time together would come to an end. This was Khanie's fear.  She did not want to leave Songstan alone, and wanted to keep experiencing so many amazing things that were in the world. This became their fixation.  Their passion for life.  They searched for the eastern 'fountain of youth' and knew that it was out there somewhere.  There were so many stories, and nothing burned brighter in Khanie's heart... even Songstan's love.  The quest to live forever became a rock in the field of their relationship that grew and grew and grew. Fights broke out between the two, and on the eve of Khanie's 60th birthday, she stormed out of their home grabbing a horse and riding hard away from him.  Who was he to say they were going to die?? She would find a way to live forever, with or without him! In 55 years Khanie had not shed a tear, and now the water streamed from her face.  They were high... very high in the mountains.  High enough her breath soon became laboured, and her steed could not to any longer. Still furiously stubborn and heated with their fight, Khanie entered a forest that she had never seen before. Darkness penetrated it's depths and a small warning cried in her heart.  Perhaps this was the place? The place with everlasting life? 

Unfortunately, for her, it was.

Khanie's first hundred years in Sybal Heim were wonderous. She quickly adapted (which is what she had to do all her life) to the lifestyle of having a Sybal and staying the same age.  Yes she was older, but she had the vitality of a 30 year old, and she excelled in what she did.  Even in Sybal Heim she could steal... and in this instance it was definitely more challenging! To steal from a sybal was... exhillarating.  But she did it.  For years and years, the memory of her former life seemed... gone. Faded. Unreal.  Her emotions of being a Sybal overrode her feelings for any remeberance of Songstan.  She had proved him wrong and her Sybal laughed in his face.  But as time went on, the girl missed his companionship... and soon she realized what a curse Sybal Heim was.  An absolute curse. No dying next to the one you love. No change in the hideous city.  Being ruled by someone they all barely even knew. Who put him in charge of everyone's lives to make them trapped in this place? Who was he to decide he could control their lives.  Little by little, the woman became furious at the whole idea of life eternal, and is now actively trying to bring the leadership down.  No one should have control over people's lives like this. Was this a perfect heaven that so many of the citizens believed? Not in Khanie's eyes. No. This was a perfect Hell.



Additional Info:

- Khanie misses almost as much as she does Songstan the mountains and animals of the Himalayas.  She hates the city life and wants to be back out in the harsh horrible cold weather.

- Khanie is still afraid to die... but she believes it to be a better fate than living in Sybal Heim.

- Khanie actually does love being in her Sybal form, but she believes it to be a necessary sacrifice to show people how evil Sybal Heim really is.

- Although she is 59, Khanie's got the strength and vigour of a 45 year old. Yes, she's a little slower, but she's fit and her age doesn't slow her down.

- Khanie pretends to be completely blind all the time. She can totally see, but she's found it is a good lie for her.

- Khanie would have loved to be a mother.  She dotes upon the younger citizens quite easily, and this has given her the nickname Nana Khandro.

- Khanie loves all of the different districts in Sybal Heim and has lived in each of them.

- Khanie believes Songstan to be dead.

- Khanie likes to drink.  She can definitely hold her liquor.