Post by Nadja on Feb 19, 2009 4:16:08 GMT -5
The mountainous region where she was borne includes parts of the Transylvanian and Carpathian Alps. The region is one of deep valleys and towering crags with mountain fortresses, yet there are fertile farms and ancient cities. They were under the rule of the Bathory Family, those who a reputation for unbridled ferocity, substituting visible cruelty for military strength.
A favorite ploy was to behead enemies and place their heads on spikes along the road. Impalement on stakes and roasting on spits and in baskets was also practiced. Another was to blind prisoners in groups; link them with ropes and have a half blinded leader take them home to show what would happen to others, the peasants who saw these sights and even the aristocracy soon spread horror stories about the perpetrators of these terrible acts, undoubtedly embellishing them as they were repeated.
The small village her family lived in, was quaint by most aspects. None of them were rich by way of weight in gold, but if asked, they were rich in what life had to offer them. Farmers by the most part, some raised cattle, sheep, and pigs. Bartering took place more than cold cash deals, since coin was sparced due to the heavy taxes they paid to the royal house, and pay offs to guards who raided their village on a monthly basis, in order to save the virtue of their daughters.
When not busy tending to live stock or the fields, the small village would gather around a massive fire built in the center. Music would fill the air with it's vibrance and up beat tempos, as the younger generations would dance around the fire, giving thanks to what the day and earth had blessed them with. Traveling caravans would often stop over in this small village, finding themselves welcomed with open arms by the peasants that lived there. It was through these travelers that the villagers had gained crops they otherwise may not have had access to seeds, learned the trade of creating items with the vegitation they grew to heal, cure, as well as items that could be used against their enemy.
They also came to seek out the wisdom of the old woman who lived there. She was known for her visions of things to come, for touching an individual and seeing not only their past, but their future. It was said she could speak to the animals just as easily as she could the dead. The woman was feared and reveared at the same time by not only those who lived in the village, but travelers alike. Her daughter was a beautiful woman who had captured the eye of a local Count, although his advances were ignored and refused. The young woman's heart was captured by one of the men that traveled in a frequently visiting caravan. It would be their union that would eventually lead to the villages downfall.
By time the Count had heard the woman he was determined to make his own had been claimed by another man, the beautiful young Romanian was already with child. He became enraged by this knowledge and sought out the house of Bathory to invoke his revenge. He told the Lady Elizabeth sorrid tales of the villagers refusal of accepting them as their ruling head, as well as hoarding their gold for themselves. He spoke of their use of magicks with the intent of placing a curse on the Bathory house, to make the men impitent and the women barren. Enough that it enraged the ruling house and guards were sent out to raid the village, burn all houses and crops to the ground. To gather the live stock and bring back to the castle for back payment on taxes. Anyone known to dabble in the occult were to be publicly executed in the most haneous of manners, those not killed to be gathered and imprisoned.
It was by night the guards bore down upon the village, while those who lived within gathered about the fire enjoying music and dance. Unprepared for the attack along with the lack of skills for common men to face the war vetrans, it took not long for the guards to over run and gather all within the village circle around the fire. The guards already knew of the old woman, but to be sure they got the right one, all women over the age of fourty were drug into the center of the village. Much to all the villagers horror they stood as they watched the guards invoke their rights given by the Bathory house. The women were stripped of all their clothing, forced to stand all natural before all to view, the men forced to carry eight foot long logs and piled off to the side at a height of three foot. Roughly the women were drug and thrown face down over the piles of wood, their wrists and ankles tied to that of their neighbor and staked into the ground. Now spead eagle over the wooden piles, the guards would make the villagers watch as they had their way with the women. Their screams echoed through the valley, intermixed with the shouts that came from the gathered masses for the men to stop their actions. The women were beaten and raped relentlessly, until the guards had bored with their actions. That was when they took burning embers from the bonfire and set the wood piles ablaze, with the women still attatched.
Horrified the crowd watched on, the few who could stand no more to watch the show of horror before them would rush out to attack the nearest guard to their position. This would only cause them to be the next victim to the rein of terror on the village. Beheaded, dismembered, or eviserated would be the end result, the body then tossed upon the burning wood with the others. The older men would be the next to feel the wrath of the guards, as they were then cut from the fold of younger villagers. Their fate was not as merciful compared to that of their wives, sisters, or mothers. They would not die immediately, instead impaled upon stakes that would line the smoldering remains of the village; their death would be a slow, agonizing one. Those left, the young women, children, and men who showed no agression towards the guards, would be teathered together and lead as a long procession along the mountain paths towards the House of Bathory. Those who showed weakness during this travel, be it man, woman, or child, would find their fate at the base of a cliff so not to slow down the rest.
Those who survived had now become indentured servants to the house. Some traded or sold to other nobles and aristocrates, even given as gifts. The Count would see to it that he would gain the woman he was determined to make his own, only to find she carried the child of another man. It would be much in her favor that he had a soft spot for the woman, for it was her tears that fell, and her promise to be devoted to him alone, that kept him from cutting the offensive waife from the woman's womb and disposing of it. Instead he had her placed in confinement, to work along with his other slaves until the child was borne. Upon it's birth he planned to have the child taken from it's mother, not caring what happened to it in the end.
It was during the autumn the child was due, and the Count was planning a harvest ball to celebrate. He heard of a traveling band of entertainers and invited them to put on their shows for his guests. Much to the woman's relief and heartbreak, it was the traveling caravan that often visited their village. They were there on the night the child was borne into the cruel harsh world to which the young woman had been forced, as well as the young man that was of their blood. She knew not what happened to the love of her life, if he had survived the attack or not that night. All she knew was that she had to protect the child they created out of love, and on the night to which a baby girl was borne to her, a kiss on the childs brow would be the last time she would touch or see her little girl. Arrangements had been made for the traveling caravan to wisk the child away before the Count learned of it's birth and invoked his cruel actions upon it.
During their visit, the Gypsy troupe had seen to the liberation of some children and a few of the men and women. They left before the rising of the sun, a cover for their actions, then headed further south to soon disappear forever. Never did they return to that portion where the Carpathian and Transylvanian Alps met. The young girl grew up on the road, learning the ways of the only people she ever knew as family, however as she began to age, many could see the young girl was special in many ways. Had the spirit of the old woman, the village seer, slipped into the unborn child her daughter carried? It was rumored so by those within the caravan that knew the family well, for the child had the gift of sight and the same ablitiies as the old woman. She was the light in the storm for so many, and hence the name she was given by her mother on the night of her birth, Nadja, and the meaning of Nadja is "hope".
A favorite ploy was to behead enemies and place their heads on spikes along the road. Impalement on stakes and roasting on spits and in baskets was also practiced. Another was to blind prisoners in groups; link them with ropes and have a half blinded leader take them home to show what would happen to others, the peasants who saw these sights and even the aristocracy soon spread horror stories about the perpetrators of these terrible acts, undoubtedly embellishing them as they were repeated.
The small village her family lived in, was quaint by most aspects. None of them were rich by way of weight in gold, but if asked, they were rich in what life had to offer them. Farmers by the most part, some raised cattle, sheep, and pigs. Bartering took place more than cold cash deals, since coin was sparced due to the heavy taxes they paid to the royal house, and pay offs to guards who raided their village on a monthly basis, in order to save the virtue of their daughters.
When not busy tending to live stock or the fields, the small village would gather around a massive fire built in the center. Music would fill the air with it's vibrance and up beat tempos, as the younger generations would dance around the fire, giving thanks to what the day and earth had blessed them with. Traveling caravans would often stop over in this small village, finding themselves welcomed with open arms by the peasants that lived there. It was through these travelers that the villagers had gained crops they otherwise may not have had access to seeds, learned the trade of creating items with the vegitation they grew to heal, cure, as well as items that could be used against their enemy.
They also came to seek out the wisdom of the old woman who lived there. She was known for her visions of things to come, for touching an individual and seeing not only their past, but their future. It was said she could speak to the animals just as easily as she could the dead. The woman was feared and reveared at the same time by not only those who lived in the village, but travelers alike. Her daughter was a beautiful woman who had captured the eye of a local Count, although his advances were ignored and refused. The young woman's heart was captured by one of the men that traveled in a frequently visiting caravan. It would be their union that would eventually lead to the villages downfall.
By time the Count had heard the woman he was determined to make his own had been claimed by another man, the beautiful young Romanian was already with child. He became enraged by this knowledge and sought out the house of Bathory to invoke his revenge. He told the Lady Elizabeth sorrid tales of the villagers refusal of accepting them as their ruling head, as well as hoarding their gold for themselves. He spoke of their use of magicks with the intent of placing a curse on the Bathory house, to make the men impitent and the women barren. Enough that it enraged the ruling house and guards were sent out to raid the village, burn all houses and crops to the ground. To gather the live stock and bring back to the castle for back payment on taxes. Anyone known to dabble in the occult were to be publicly executed in the most haneous of manners, those not killed to be gathered and imprisoned.
It was by night the guards bore down upon the village, while those who lived within gathered about the fire enjoying music and dance. Unprepared for the attack along with the lack of skills for common men to face the war vetrans, it took not long for the guards to over run and gather all within the village circle around the fire. The guards already knew of the old woman, but to be sure they got the right one, all women over the age of fourty were drug into the center of the village. Much to all the villagers horror they stood as they watched the guards invoke their rights given by the Bathory house. The women were stripped of all their clothing, forced to stand all natural before all to view, the men forced to carry eight foot long logs and piled off to the side at a height of three foot. Roughly the women were drug and thrown face down over the piles of wood, their wrists and ankles tied to that of their neighbor and staked into the ground. Now spead eagle over the wooden piles, the guards would make the villagers watch as they had their way with the women. Their screams echoed through the valley, intermixed with the shouts that came from the gathered masses for the men to stop their actions. The women were beaten and raped relentlessly, until the guards had bored with their actions. That was when they took burning embers from the bonfire and set the wood piles ablaze, with the women still attatched.
Horrified the crowd watched on, the few who could stand no more to watch the show of horror before them would rush out to attack the nearest guard to their position. This would only cause them to be the next victim to the rein of terror on the village. Beheaded, dismembered, or eviserated would be the end result, the body then tossed upon the burning wood with the others. The older men would be the next to feel the wrath of the guards, as they were then cut from the fold of younger villagers. Their fate was not as merciful compared to that of their wives, sisters, or mothers. They would not die immediately, instead impaled upon stakes that would line the smoldering remains of the village; their death would be a slow, agonizing one. Those left, the young women, children, and men who showed no agression towards the guards, would be teathered together and lead as a long procession along the mountain paths towards the House of Bathory. Those who showed weakness during this travel, be it man, woman, or child, would find their fate at the base of a cliff so not to slow down the rest.
Those who survived had now become indentured servants to the house. Some traded or sold to other nobles and aristocrates, even given as gifts. The Count would see to it that he would gain the woman he was determined to make his own, only to find she carried the child of another man. It would be much in her favor that he had a soft spot for the woman, for it was her tears that fell, and her promise to be devoted to him alone, that kept him from cutting the offensive waife from the woman's womb and disposing of it. Instead he had her placed in confinement, to work along with his other slaves until the child was borne. Upon it's birth he planned to have the child taken from it's mother, not caring what happened to it in the end.
It was during the autumn the child was due, and the Count was planning a harvest ball to celebrate. He heard of a traveling band of entertainers and invited them to put on their shows for his guests. Much to the woman's relief and heartbreak, it was the traveling caravan that often visited their village. They were there on the night the child was borne into the cruel harsh world to which the young woman had been forced, as well as the young man that was of their blood. She knew not what happened to the love of her life, if he had survived the attack or not that night. All she knew was that she had to protect the child they created out of love, and on the night to which a baby girl was borne to her, a kiss on the childs brow would be the last time she would touch or see her little girl. Arrangements had been made for the traveling caravan to wisk the child away before the Count learned of it's birth and invoked his cruel actions upon it.
During their visit, the Gypsy troupe had seen to the liberation of some children and a few of the men and women. They left before the rising of the sun, a cover for their actions, then headed further south to soon disappear forever. Never did they return to that portion where the Carpathian and Transylvanian Alps met. The young girl grew up on the road, learning the ways of the only people she ever knew as family, however as she began to age, many could see the young girl was special in many ways. Had the spirit of the old woman, the village seer, slipped into the unborn child her daughter carried? It was rumored so by those within the caravan that knew the family well, for the child had the gift of sight and the same ablitiies as the old woman. She was the light in the storm for so many, and hence the name she was given by her mother on the night of her birth, Nadja, and the meaning of Nadja is "hope".
