✴ ORIGINS
_________

Seulgi was born into a noble lineage that promised a bright future.

Her father, Kang Seumin, was the only son of his family, and Earl of a large port-kingdom in the humid tropics of the islands across the oceans from the lands surrounding us now. Her mother, Lee Sunmi, was the radiant, second-born Duchess to a family of renown status. Seulgi's aunt, Suhi, older sister to Sunmi, married the first prince to the throne in the neighbouring kingdom. The four other younger sisters, Suhyun, Suji, Saemi, and Sujae, all married into families of status and nobility as well. And the family, as a whole, established themselves not only with the upperclass, but the lowerclass, too with their charitous acts and donations. 

And while no one could prove it, many used to rumour that magic ran in the veins of the women in this family. That they had flirted with the fae in their background, generations back. 

Every sister had a knack, a skill of some kind, in which she shined. Unique gifts. Suhi was able to calm a person - no matter how wound up -  with a simple touch and a soft smile. Sunmi made simple fabrics come to life in dresses with stories in her embroidery that whispered off the pleats. Suhyun held an over prominent green thumb; Suji could sing anyone into a deep sleep with her melodious voice; Saemi could heal any wound or illness, no matter how grave; and Sujae was a master of strategy, with a brain that far surpassed her siblings. 

When Sunmi married Seumin, it was a marriage bound by contract rather than love. While the tri-kingdoms had been at peace for many centuries, an uprising had stirred with the new ruler of the third kingdom. And war was deep at the heart of their community. 

With Seumin's navy, and Sunmi's family talents, they began an army. Their power spread, and no one is able to say how exactly, but the war was ended. The King slain, his army destroyed. Nothing but the story of victory to spread among the masses.

With peace finally settled, and new life emerging, the young couple uprooted their home and moved here. And they finally found the time to get to know each other. Business blossomed into a warm friendship, not of romantic love, but of bosom friends.

There was no one better than your best friend to raise a child... and so came to be Seulgi. 


✴ FIRST STEPS
_________

Seuseu, as she was so adoringly dubbed by her parents, was as gifted as her mother, aunts and grandmother. 

As young as two years of age, she would hover around her mother while she embroidered the hems of a skirt. She could speak in chopped sentences as early as three, and she'd whisper to the thread while her mother poked her needle. 

At the age of four, she picked up the needle for the first time. Adept fingers wove lumpy roses that giggled with riddles, beading lopsided vines with chubby fingers. 

To sustain their small but growing seamstress business, Seulgi's mother often took her to town to gather materials. On one trip down, her father decided to join them, joking how he'd be the one to carry all the parcels so they could buy more than normal. 

What seemed to be a casual retreat with her family was a calculated opportunity for the resistance. Despite the war being years behind them, and the entire change of scenery, rebels still popped up here and there, searching for opportunity. There was no better target than the couple that started their downfall. Seulgi's parents were ambushed in a backstreet on their way to the inn, where they wanted to dine before returning home. 

They got them right at the opening, where traffic merged into the crowd, and being the aloof little girl she was, Seulgi continued to walk, oblivious to the split entirely. 

She walked and walked until her stomach growled loudly enough to pull her from the overlapping voices in her mind. The sun was setting, the market was closing. Impatience creeped into the girl, wondering where her parents had escaped to. Desperation began when the sun set entirely, and she was still all alone.  

To this day, Seulgi never knows what became of her parents. And eventually, they fade from her memory altogether, only to be remembered in brief moments of familiar scents, and familiar locations. 

✴ FIRST STEPS
_________

For days, Seulgi was lost on her own. The noise and chaos of the city was too much on her sensitive ears with all the voices shouting panickedly in her head, so she wandered away.

Out and out and out.

Beyond the wall. Past the farmlands. Travelling until blisters wore her feet down, mud tangled her hair and fat melted off her bones. 

When Ealdwine found her, it was a rainy afternoon. She was in a tree, shielding herself from the frogs, weeks into her journey. 

In the solitude of the woods, Seulgi befriended the voices in her head.  

Ealdwine hadn't been much of an old man back then when she'd been found. He'd shielded her in his quaint cabin, even further out than she'd walked. Fed her. Nursed her back to health, and all while tendering to a young toddler that hobbled at his feet. Angelina.

With nowhere to go, Seulgi stayed put. 

The three of them became a family. 

In the beginning, they searched for her parents. Ealdwine held her head while they ventured back in town. He pressed his big, calloused palms that smelled of bay leaves to her ears when the braying of horses and shouting of hagglers grew too much. They grazed the crowds for any sight of the one's that raised her. 

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, months turned to years and they stopped looking. 

When she was healthy enough, her new father allowed her to join lessons about his craft. Alongside Angelina, she spent hours learning about ingredients, memorizing combinations, learning rules and all the in betweens of herbalism. 

As devoted as the other two were, and as much of a knack for it as Seulgi had, though... Herbalism bored her. 

Her true interest lay where it always had. In sewing. Creating. Transforming. 

Being so close to the divide between the fae and human world, she could see things clearer. Butterflies had sparkles around their wings. Birds actually sang songs she knew the words to. There was peace for her and the voices in her head when she lay in the meadow, weaving bracelets from grass and daydreaming about what she could embroider into her newest dress she'd sewn. 

Sometimes there'd be strangers that passed through Ealdwine's cabin, seeking healing, wearing garments she'd never seen before. 

Oh! She could still remember the first time her fingers danced upon the soft heaven of velvet!

As the girls grew into teenagers, it became quite evident that while they were both talented in the trade, only one showed the true passion to handle the business. 

Which became very real and serious when their father and mentor fell ill. 

No matter the recipe, no matter the treatment, no matter the research... A cure could not be found. 

Ealdwine grew sicker and sicker. His cheeks hollowed, his hair thinned, his skin turned gray. But he smiled, holding his daughter's hands, until his grave. 


✴ FIRST STEPS OF DARKNESS
_________

When Ealdwine passed, Seulgi partially detached from reality. 

She had always begged Ealdwine for more friends. For more outings. She'd always been lonely. Unlike Angelina, this little family wasn't enough. 

And the voices had only grown louder as she aged. 

When they buried him, she was even more alone. 

Not even her sister could drag her out of the trance-like state she was in for the first few weeks. Muttering to herself. Bumping into things. Needing to be forced to eat, to bathe, to care for herself. When she finally came to, her relationship with Lina strained further. 

There had always been tension. Silent competition and resentment amidst their infinite love for one another. 

A riff formed, and Seulgi parted ways. 

Again she wandered, like she had so long ago, travelling until she was lost, needing to be found again.    

✴ DESCENT TO PRESENT
_________

A shed, no, more a shack. But it was all hers. 

When she first stumbled upon it, it wasn't more than a few planks of rotting wood with a roof holding a hole so large at its center it was less roof than open space. 

It was deep in the forest, but close enough to the outskirt that she could find the plains in less than ten minutes walk. 

Over time, she collected pieces of driftwood from the beach, felled trees and stones, and patched the shack together with clay she dug from the ground and mixed with water from the river. Inside, a straw mattress in the corner, on a stack of wooden boxes. A tree stump she called a desk, and all the things she needed to create. 

Around it, she cleared the brush and transformed it into her personal garden. Using the teachings of Ealdwine, she planted all the basics of what she'd need to sustain a small, private herbalism practice. 

Whenever she needed coin to feed herself, or buy some fabric, she promoted her practice. Travelliing home to home to cure sniffles, cuts and more. 

Every visit was painstaking and solidified her status as the town looney. 

The townsfolk had never been kind to her before. They merely tolerated her to keep her skills around for the cheap coin they confused her with. 

It wasn't much. But it was all hers. 




 

  

pudding, foraging, gardening, plants, special fabrics, sewing, rainstorms (but not lightning), (most) animals, specific textures, languages, books, light/shadows, doing her hair, art, flowers/bright colours

too much noise, when too many people talk at once, sticky things, meat, sand, tight spaces, any signs of anger or violence, lightning, frogs/salamanders/snakes, slimey textures, dogs (she's been hunted by too many) and horses (same reason), weapons (terrifying), violence

seulgi is of noble lineage, her father being a notable duke and mother a duchess from a line of women whom had held power positions. she has no memory of her parents. 
she was adopted by ealdwine, her mentor who guided her through the ways of herbalism. through him, she found her adopted sister lina. 

It took but a year or so for Seulgi to establish her name in the nearby town as a herbalist healer. through that business she earns coin to survive. however oblivious she is to it, seulgi is considered the town freak/looney. the weirdo who lives alone on the far, far outskirts of town. the creep who sings to herself and throws herself in front of livestock about to be slaughtered. she lives her life boldly, without fear of judgment from others, lost in her mind. which makes her different and a big target for those who don't understand. she is often time bullied by those who can get away with it, and tortured to a certain extent.  

seulgi studied alongside her sister angelina with her mentor ealdwine. he taught her everything she knows now and introduced her to the world of books. through much reading, and an uncanny memory that works in funny ways, seulgi has managed to acquire knowledge about foreign languages, culture and practices that she loves to share with whoever will spare her a moment. 

seulgi lives a very hermetic lifestyle of isolation, not by choice, but by force. she has always longed for the presence of others, but has been ostracized through circumstance and fear. she lives every day doing what she wants, only doing what she has to when she needs to. she's a walking riddle that way. 

— XX

XX 

korean (6/6), english (5/6), french (3/6), mandarin (2/6)

currently, seulgi has no friends aside from the wild animals as her neighbours and her sister (whom she is not currently on good terms with) 

 

 

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Hi, I'm Paypay, EST/GST-4 (Canadian girl), my first language is French, so please be patient with me. I work full time but I always do my best to come on and do my replies. Please don't repeatedly poke me. The more into plotting you are with me the more inspired I am to reply to your posts. I do any POV but prefer detailed first when possible. I prefer all drama to be plotted and am a very laid back, chill person, so please come and create amazing stories with me !!!!