About Riala Goldentail

• Name: Riala Goldentail

• Nicknames: She's been called Ri'la by moles, 'Ria by her father, and Raeila by Aeloein.

• Gender: Female

• Species: Squirrel

• Birthplace: A small drey in the chill forests of the Northlands.

• Occupation: Warrior

• Accent: The squirrel's northern accent is typically faint, nearly imperceptible.  When her adrenaline is high or emotion is strong, though, it becomes much more marked.

• Past Clubs: Wanderers of Mossflower, Sentinels of Mossflower [ignored in the overall storyline for continuity purposes], and Fort Ruddler.

• Character Analysis, by Snowspine (Riala's writer/roleplayer)

• Character Crunch: Riala, by Vitora (Terrouge reporter)
  
• Warcry: Riiiilaaaaaaaaaaaar!
  
• Physical Description: Riala is of relatively average height for a squirrel.  Her fur is a reddish brown and marred by a lattice of pale scars.  Like her name indicates, her bushy tail is a rust-gold.  Her ears are tufted and her paws are heavily callused.  Riala's eyes are gold-brown and shadowed with the darkness of her past.  She rarely smiles, and when she does, the scars on her face twist her features into a grotesque expression that looks more like a grimace than a grin.  Her voice is rough and somewhat low, indicating that she'd be an alto if she sang, but she's tone deaf and so doesn't sing at all.  The squirrel's form is lean, her muscles taut and wiry, her posture suggesting a constant readiness for action, like a tightly wound spring ready to release at any moment.
• Personality: Riala is a veteran warrior of many seasons, with a hardened soul blocked from most emotion.  Too many sorrows have scarred her and made her cold, so cold that to some goodbeasts she seems as verminous as any vermin.  She has absolutely no pity for vermin, and no mercy when it comes to fighting them.  It's hard for her to accept any goodbeasts that are normally vermin, but she can do it - except in the case of wolverines.  Riala hates the species, and can never accept that one might be at all good.  In battle, Riala tends to let bloodwrath overtake her; in fact, she can hardly keep it from doing so.
• Attire: Riala typically wears clothing that blends with her surroundings, which usually means a mottled forest green and brown tunic.  A rope belt holds her dagger and roce, and a pouch containing flint, a whetstone, and dry tender hangs from the belt as well.  Around her neck is a pendant ocarina, round in shape and made of clay, with an abstract design surrounding a polished blue orb.  It's a high-pitched, sweet-sounding instrument that she is still learning how to play, yet she almost never plays it around otherbeasts.  It was given to her by a young mousemaid named Hope in a slave pit who was later killed in a battle between the creatures of Fort Ruddler and the slavers. (See Fort Ruddler Missions: Underground Slavers)
• Biography: She was born in a forest in the Northern Mountains.  She never knew her mother, who died in childbirth.  It was her warrior father, Rilar Battlecry, who raised her as best he could.  She adored Rilar, and he taught her all he knew of wilderness survival, stealth, tracking, and the warrior's art.  Yet when Riala was but a few seasons old, a black wolverine named Nightdeath Longclaws came to their drey and challenged Rilar to a duel.  They fought, but when Riala's father seemed to be winning, Nightdeath growled three short times - a signal to his weasel archers... and Rilar became riddled with arrows.  Riala vowed to take revenge on the wolverine, and tracked him for many seasons.  She stayed with a group of warriors called the Wanderers of Mossflower for a while, but when one of her friends was nearly killed by a wolverine, Riala set off after the Longclaws again.  She caught up to him near Southsward and finally took her revenge.  However, her entire life purpose before then had been to seek vengeance for her father's death, and now that purpose was gone.  The feeling of having no purpose in life nearly drove her to suicide, but a northlander squirrel bard named Aeloein stopped her.  They became very close and perhaps they would have married if he had not been killed by a wolverine.  Riala had opened up to Ael more than any other creature in her entire life save her father, and he had begun to bring her out of her emotionless shell.  When he was killed, she fell back into her old ways of distrust and being emotionless. She eventually found her way to Fort Ruddler where she was befriended by two hares, Mackbry Taffellappen and Teltoli Riverbuck, who worked at getting her to come out of her shell and open up.  She led a patrol from Fort Ruddler but remained behind when the patrol returned to the fort, sending along with them her letter of resignation.

• Scars: Pale, whitish scars form almost a lattice on Riala's red-brown fur, almost too many to count.  Listed below are many of the scars and where she acquired them.

  • Left paw: There's a thin scar across the back of Riala's throwing paw from where a weasel sliced it with a dagger.  She killed the weasel; that was the first time she'd ever killed. (Vengeance Quest, Chapter One: Birth of a Hatred)

  • Right ear: Riala's right ear was sliced nearly in half in the battle with the Blacktooth's crew, but was stitched back together by the North Caves' healer Sablepaw. (Vengeance Quest, Chapter Two: The North Caves)

  • Right cheek: A deep cut on her cheek in the battle with the Blacktooth's crew left a long scar. (Vengeance Quest, Chapter Two: The North Caves)

  • Left upper arm: A long, jagged scar runs from her shoulder to her elbow from the battle with the Blacktooth's crew. (Vengeance Quest, Chapter Two: The North Caves)

  • Right thigh: A somewhat short scar across her upper right thigh is a token of her battle with the crew of the Blacktooth. (Vengeance Quest, Chapter Two: The North Caves)

  • Nose: There's a thin scar from a rat's whip across her muzzle, from her left eye to the right corner of her mouth. (Vengeance Quest, Chapter Four: Mossflower)

  • Chest: A long, thick, jagged scar spreads outward from the point in her chest where a rat's sword pierced it and was twisted out, causing the scar to run upward and down in a crooked line. (Vengeance Quest, Chapter Four: Mossflower)

  • Right wrist: Bone had once pierced her wrist when it was broken by chain, leaving a pinpoint scar. (Vengeance Quest, Chapter Four: Mossflower)

  • Whipmarks; She'd been badly beaten by a whip and chain when she first came to Mossflower, and there are long, spidery scars from the whip lashes across her back, paws, head, tail, and ribs.

  • Left thigh: There's a scar across the back of her left thigh from a ferret's dagger. (Fort Ruddler Missions: Thief!)

  • Back: Odd, short scars cover her back where an insane wolverine's claws had pierced the skin. (Fort Ruddler Missions: Mystery Beast)

  • Left ribcage: A long scar runs across the left side of her ribcage where a spear had glanced off of it. (Fort Ruddler Missions: Underground Slavers)

• Weapons:

  • Roce: The roce is her main weapon, one of her own invention.  It is a short, slightly curved, thick hardwood stick, dark brown and polished from long usage.  Strong, tightly-braided cord seems to be embedded into the hard wood, but in reality is just tightly tied around a notch that encircles one end of the stick.  There are several marks on the weapon, notches and scrapes from contact with blades, but none are deep enough to affect the roce's performance.  It is quite the versatile weapon.  Riala uses it as a club in close quarters.  When her target is a distance away, she is able to throw the roce, tumbling it end-over-end through the air until it strikes her target with surprising force.  A tug of the cord attached to the weapon sends it flying back to her.  In battle, when there are many enemies around her and she is outnumbered, Riala lets out a few lengths of cord and spins about.  Centrifugal force causes the stick to fly outward in a circle, striking painfully on flesh.  The roce is capable of breaking bones and even crushing skulls: it is a deadly weapon in knowledgeable paws.

  • Dagger: Riala's dagger was a gift from her father before he was killed.  It is a plain but serviceable weapon, kept in excellent condition.  She uses her dagger in close quarters when there's no room to use her roce, and is fairly skilled at throwing it as well.  She prefers her roce in battle, but uses her dagger almost as much as the club-like weapon, as a bladed weapon is valuable in many circumstances.  The dagger also doubles as a knife for everyday use.

  • Other Weapons: She's capable of using several other weapons besides her favorites.  Riala knows how to use a longsword, which was her father's weapon, although she's not excellent in its use and quite rusty.  She is a passable though not expert shot with a bow and arrow. Javelins are more difficult for her, but she's able to hit a stationary target or one that is moving slowly.  She was never able to use a sling no matter how hard she tried to learn the art.

• Relationships:

  • Mother: Inala Battlecry

    • Status: Deceased.  She died in childbirth.

  • Father: Rilar Battlecry

    • Status: Deceased.  He was killed by the wolverine Nightdeath Longclaws when Riala was barely out of dibbunhood.

  • Marital Status: Single, but she became very close to a Northlander squirrel named Aeloein (see Soulfire) and perhaps they would have married, if he had not been killed by a wolverine.  Riala had opened up to Ael more than any other creature in her entire life save her father, and he had begun to bring her out of her emotionless shell.  When he was killed, she fell back into her old ways of distrust and being emotionless, and it is not very likely that she'll ever love another again.  It is possible, but it's not very likely at all.

  • Friends: Riala's friends are few and far between, but she is always loyal to those she considers her friends.  The squirrel Tamlin, who lead the Wanderers of Mossflower, was a friend, but she hasn't been to Mossflower in ages (and OOCly, he's not on the ROC anymore).  She was friends with many of the other Wanderers, such as Kaylen and Drizzt and Kathryn and Shadow Vulpes, but most of them have not been seen in seasons (they've almost all left the ROC, OOCly).  More recently, she has been befriended by the hares Mackbry Taffellappen and Teltoli Riverbuck of Fort Ruddler.

  • Enemies: Originally, Riala's sworn enemy was Nightdeath Longclaws, the black wolverine who killed her father when she was still quite young.  Her need to exact vengeance for her father's death drove her through life and consumed her with a hatred that still resides within her.  After she finally caught up with and killed the Longclaws, she was driven nearly to suicide by an abrupt lack of purpose in life.  Her main purpose had been her vengeance quest, but that was completed.  She now considers all wolverines her enemies, and hates them with a passion.