Obudiah

Being the elephant in the room. ..
. . .literally speaking, is the most difficult thing when you’re Obudiah. She’s purebred High Serpentine, meaning she’s covered in scales, bulky-bodied, and stands a height of 18’ - an average height for her species.

But, oh, how hilarious reality can be! Looks are certainly deceiving - she isn’t as fierce, loud, or as monstrous as her appearance may suggest. Ironically, she’s rather shy and quiet. Solitude is her home and she finds, most of the time, that she is her own best company. Within such a life, she’s come to understand herself more completely than what most High Serpentine discover within their lifetimes - which, on average, spans a century and a half. As such, she’s unraveled that her talents lie mostly in architectural and fashion pursuits. She’ll admit she’s not the best builder, a skill she’s eager to improve, but, in tailorship, she’s unmatched. Clients such Madeline Ashenveil-Cosmi of Raventhorn, Lason von Zornstein, and other nobility have pursued her as their personal stylist.

Obudiah de Pork
Wait! How the hell did a high serpentine build familial ties to a family of boarmen? Simple story: Johnathan G. Pork was a successful butcher and the creator of his own town - Porktunne. Obudiah, seeking refuge while on one of her travels, was warmly invited by Mr. Pork to settle a few days in town -  albeit, the town was incredibly underdeveloped, only the small butchery and a couple of row houses were built at this point. The high serpentiness, in a zeal of severe gratitude, insisted that she help Johnathan build his town.

Permission was granted, and her contribution was so great - she built so quickly and skillfully - that Mr. Pork, impressed beyond belief, felt a deep sense of gratitude well up within him. In privacy, he offered a prayer of thanks to both her and towards fate, which he believed  made possible this wildly convenient circumstance.

He therefore felt compelled to fairly compensate her for her efforts, but, currently, all of his accounts were dry and his resources were few. Eventually, he decided to just repay her in knowledge. Johnathan would teach Obudiah all he knew about the business of butchering. She was engaged in his lessons, but it took her a while to understand the more tricky aspects of the trade - that being entrepreneurship and handling finances. Obudiah was grateful for this, so she chose to partner in his business. Together, they built the most profitable pork butchery in all of Abexilas.

Johnathan, grateful once again, rewarded Obudiah a second time. He gave her a few dozen acres to establish a town. To create a settlement on her own had been Obudiah’s lifelong ambition. This is the origin of Booker T. W. City. Overjoyed and grateful once again, she rewarded him by pitching her town within a few miles of Porktunne and collaborated with Johnathan to transform their humble villages into towns and, then, into cities.

Ever grateful for her, Johnathan, however, struggled to find what more he could give her. At last, in a final act of generosity, he rewarded Obudiah with his last name. A  high serpentine would be made an honorary member of house Pork.

My husband wasn't the warmonger people believed him to be. ..
The proof is me. What use is someone who prioritizes beauty, art, culture, and song; peace between species, continents, and seas; and internal development over external conquest to someone who, apparently, lives by the sword? Catch my train of thought? There's more to a person than rumors and accolades, and there was certainly a heart and a soul beneath that man: Blake Almmore I.

Yes, interspecies romance is a great taboo in these lands; however, an exception came when I accidentally inhaled the pollen of a peculiar species of flower. When I did, there was nothing unusual I felt aside from relief from the delicious smell. Just a moment later, I found myself transformed into a human! This petite, frail-looking body was not the usual me, but it was the same race as Blake. Please, don't ask me to explain the science. I haven’t the slightest clue how, but this unexpected circumstance literally transformed into a convenience for both of us. We loved each other.

Maybe, I wasn't the most befitting of Gertek culture. My ways are delicate and my sensibilities can be touchy at times. The average Gertekian is rough, stern, politically-minded, and, in conversation, willing to toss banter about subject matter that is downright offensive (such as, referring to Beepeck as “a deplorable infestation,” or the Coalition of Adramis as “effeminate useless infidels,”). Naturally, I disagree with the norms of this society, but I understand why they exist. Call me soft, but I’m not narrow-minded enough to not see the countless betrayals, setbacks, and difficulties these people endure. I’ve come to see why they are what they are and why they do what they do. Their own self-preservation is of paramount importance, so they live, love, and lie within a warrior state of mind.

I wish these people - Blake’s people - well, and; for better or for worse,  in rich or in poor, in sickness and in health; so long as he is this nation, I will be with Gertek, too. ..

. . . Furthermore, I will fight to give back this nation its heart and soul.