Carla da Ondas

Carla da Ondas
Notable Person
Full Name	Carla da Ondas
Race	Ailor
Date of Birth	January 1st, 121 AC
Date of Death	May 4th, 146 AC
Claim to Fame	Famed Ailor Mage and emancipator of slaves

The history of Altalar slavery in Teled Methen would not be complete without the mention of Carla da Ondas, a powerful mage descended from the progenitors of the Bragacao who emancipated upwards of 30,000 slaves from the Atalar in her short life. Known to the Ailor, Altalar, and Asha of Teled Methen alike as La Paloma Dorada, or “The Golden Dove,” Carla’s story is fraught with daring acts of resistance, narrow escapes, and powerful shows of Magic--the same magic that would eventually prove to be her downfall. Remembered by the Ailor as the savior of many and by the Altalar as the damager of Tanaar Ivaëlle’s slaving operations, her story has passed into legend as a reminder of the harshness of the remnants of the Allorn Empire and the hardiness of the Ailor spirit.

Origins and Early Life

Carla was born to Ana da Ondas and an unknown lover just past the turn of the year on January 1st, 121 AC. Ana’s husband, Marcos, had been away for two years, working as a tradesman on the Himvatheer Road, and it was to his unpleasant surprise that he came home and found a three-month-old Carla sitting with her half-brothers in the front yard of their modest home. Carla was immediately consigned to shame and dishonor by her father, who predicted that her mother’s unfaithfulness would ruin their family-- and in some small way, he would be proven correct. At the age of eight, Carla’s life was altered in its course forever by the emergence of her Magespark, right in the middle of Sol Fazais’ public market. Witnessing her older brother being arrested for thievery, she lashed out a hand and broke his shackles with a blazing ray of golden light, freeing him and horrifying the crowd of locals gathered around them. Brought before her family and reviled as a spawn of the Altalar gods, Carla was cast out from her home and into the wilds of Teled Methen, armed with only her newfound powers and a burning desire to prove them wrong.

History

After being cast out, Carla went to a Maquixtl encampment in search of shelter and travel. A caravan of scholars found her first, though, and she was quickly integrated into their small community, staying with them as they went up and down the Ularen Plains. Carla spent the following year and a half studying the history of her people, of the Allorn Empire, and of slavery-- all the while going out to the woods and plains at night to practice controlling her magic. She was particularly drawn in by the legend of the Unwritten God Calvannis and the promise made by him just before vanishing: the promise that there would be consequences for the mistreatment of slaves.

Her first act of vengeful retribution happened on the same trade route her father had plied, the Himvatheer Road, as her caravan ran into a train of slaves being transported to the Teled Methen capital Ves Ivaëlle by their Altalar masters. A fury rising into her, she ran out into the night, gaining a pair of glowing, gilded wings, and tore the train’s Altalar keepers apart with flaming blades and divine might, freeing the slaves and scattering their remaining masters to the wind. Sights now set on the city of Ves Ivaëlle, the mage traveled on, whispers of the retribution of Calvannis following her. On a cold December day in the year 145 AC, The Golden Dove stood at the gates of the Altalar city, fire in her heart and upon her fists, the second act of her life about to begin.

Carla’s “reign of terror” started slowly. By most accounts, she rode into the city in the company of a trade group, going completely unnoticed, and spent the next month familiarizing herself with the city and its people. She stayed wherever Altalar would board her, keeping her Magic to herself and letting the simmering heat of her righteous fury grow until the time would come for her to act. That time was not long in the making, however. In the late weeks of January, a massive slave auction was held in the Agorana, the sprawling marketplace of Ves Ivaëlle, and that was when she decided it was time to come out of hiding. As the first of the slaves were sold, she rose from the crowd in a burst of golden flame, an ethereal sword in one hand and a burning shield in the other, voice booming across the crowd. Little record exists of exactly what happened next, but in some awe-inspiring show of power, every slave in the vicinity was freed from their shackles and the slavers were smote with flame, the incarnation of Calvannis’ wrath hanging above the market like a second sun. Altalar Mages quickly arrived to combat her, but by then, she was gone, and the nearly three thousand slaves that had been present that day had vanished with her.

This event repeated itself many times over the next four months, and the city grew to fear the name of the Golden Dove. No Mage was able to catch her in time, nor stop her attacks. Her power was the greatest seen in a Mage since the formation of the city, and not a single Altalar knew how to oppose it. In this fashion, through a series of incredibly daring attacks upon the city, some twenty-thousand more slaves were freed from estates, marketplaces, and elsewhere within the city of Ves Ivaëlle. She burned herself into history, word of her power and action spreading wide across the continent of Daen, reaching her hometown and beyond. At that point, she had done what she set out to do. Carla da Ondas, the Golden Dove, was legendary.

Later Life

In the early throes of summer, 146 AC, an Altalar man arrived in Ves Ivaëlle, nameless and little-known. Most theories place him as an old war general, a remnant of the pre-Cataclysm Allorn Empire, positing that the city’s mages had drawn him out of retirement in the last-ditch hope that he would be able to stop the relentless fury of Carla da Ondas. The exact details of how the battle began are lost to time, but on May 4th, the Golden Dove and this Altalar met in battle upon the stones of the city center, two immensely powerful Mages locked in a fight to the death. A golden flame burned itself out against nothingness, shaking the city that looked on in awed anticipation. The duel raged on for more than an hour, following them out of the city and into the great crater left behind by the Wildering, the two mages ignoring gravity and the restrictions of physicality as they waged desperate war against each other. It isn’t known how exactly the battle was ended, but the outcome was known all the same. In a bone-rattling expulsion of power and fury, the Altalar Mage overwhelmed the valorous Carla and ended her short, blinding life only twenty-five years after it had begun. Word spread and slaves everywhere mourned the loss of their champion, whilst the Altalar of Ves Ivaëlle breathed a long sigh of relief. Still, her position in history was secured, and she is revered today in some sections of Daendroc and Teled Methen as the reborn aspect of Calvannis, the divine punishment brought down onto the Altalar for their cruelty, martyred in valiant battle.

Personality

Carla da Ondas was never truly known by anyone, and the intricacies of her personality and character are unfortunately lost to history and the few people that she was close to. Generally, however, she is remembered as an incorrigible warrior and stalwart defender of the enslaved, possessing what seemed to be endless confidence and unquenchable ire. She was named by many, most notably herself, as the heir of the Unwritten God Calvannis, and in turn, many of the Estellian Faith regard her as some sort of demigod in the footnotes of their writings.

Legacy

Carla is primarily known for the attack she made upon the Agorana in Ves Ivaëlle, regarded by most Altalar and scholarly Ailor as one of many consequences of rising Ailor domination after the Cataclysm. To the Bragacao Culture of Daendroque and the Teledden Altalar of Teled Methen, however, she is a burning reminder of the Ailor’s unbreakable spirit and Ves Ivaelle’s uneasy defeat, respectively. Her actions have long passed into local legend, and the descendants of the slaves she freed still tell her story with hushed voices and wide eyes.

Extended Family

Carla’s family traces itself back to the very roots of the Bragacao people who settled in the Lusits Gulf, from which they migrated into Sol Fazais and established themselves as traders and businessmen. She had no lovers, nor any children, with her own ties in life being to the slaves that she released from bondage, whom she considered her legacy and descendants.

Trivia

• It is the popular opinion of many scholars that Carla was likely the product of an Arken, which would explain both her immense power and the disposition she held against slavery. There are also reports of her eyes being an unnatural shade, though what color exactly is unknown.
• Rumors abound that her sword and shield fell into the depths of the Ivaëlle crater upon her death and that they now lie in wait for some new champion to pick them up and wield the strength of the Golden Dove once more. In reality, they were magical constructs that almost certainly dissipated shortly after her death.
• Despite no records existing of Carla’s opponent past the event of her death, some believe that he is still alive, graced by some terrible power, sleeping.

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Accreditation
Writers midsummerkid Processors HydraLana, Eronoc, MantaRey	Last Editor HydraLana on 02/22/2023.

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