Kashya

Kashya is a Khajiit Dark Brotherhood assassin from Elsweyr. Nicknamed "Mockingbird" for her uncanny talent to imitate people.

Early life
Kashya was born to an unknown mother who supposedly died giving birth to her. According to the healer Kashya had technically been stillborn for a couple of minutes before they managed to breathe life back into her again. It's unknown whether or not her temporary state of death somehow had a long-reaching impact on her later life. Believed as a result from the complications of her birth, Kashya suffered from a strange affliction that rendered her both weakened and drowsy when exposed to sunlight.

Her father was Captain Ka'rin of the Senchal Lions. The man had little love for Kashya and would actively try to spend as little time with her as possible, only preparing her three meals a day whilst he ate by himself. He referred to Kashya as having been born with "bad blood", and as such disciplined her strictly, believing that it was the only way to keep her condition in check. It's uncertain as to where his contempt for his own daughter stemmed from, but Kashya came to believe that Ka'rin held her responsible for the death of her mother and as such took out his contempt for her demise on his daughter.

Whenever possible, in order to distance himself as far away from his daughter he could, he would leave Kashya in the care of an elderly Khajiit woman named Baijan. Baijan would always regard Kashya as a child or a grand-child, and treat her accordingly with kindness and make her food, using too much spice. However their relationship would become somewhat strained when Kashya pointed out that Ma'riq, Baijan's deceased mate since 20 years back, to still be present in the old Khajiit's house. While Kashya didn't know at the time that she had seen a ghost, the event had unsettled Baijan.

Kashya's only friend as a child was Kiro, the son of a carpenter. The only child who tolerated her. As part of a street gang, Kiro would often be ridiculed for his relationship with Kashya, whom they regarded as strange and weird. Kashya recalls how two of them, Ra'zid, and his girlfriend Tsamba, had thrown a rock at her once. Kiro and Kashya would usually play and eventually came to share a mutual, romantic affection for each other.

However, any plans the two young lovers had for the future came to an abrupt halt when Ka'rin decided that it was time for Kashya to move out, as he and Tsavirra were expecting a child. Her father had made an arrangement with an establishment for Kashya to live and work on, which unbeknownst to the young girl turned out to be a brothel.

Though Ka'rin claimed that her job would only consist of basic housekeeping for the Madame Ja'zira, she would eventually inherit a room from the deceased prostitute Mizah, and thus all the foul duties that came with it. The nights following the event in which she involuntarily lost her virginity, she became so traumatized by the repeated use and abuse she had to withstand on a regular basis to the point where she developed a genuine fear of being touched.

The only woman at the brothel who was there for her was the older girl Malah who cared for her and comforted her. Kashya never once lost her belief in that her father would one day return to take her out of there, and occasionally daydreamed that Kiro would find her and together they would elope somewhere safe. But when the news eventually came that Captain Ka'rin had been married to Tsavirra, and was being transferred to Riverhold, it dawned on Kashya that her father had never intended to take her out of there. After yet another traumatic encounter with a client the girl had given up on life, realizing that she was going to be stuck at the brothel. Comforted and aided by Malah, she was inspired to make her escape, using a makeshift rope made out of bed sheets.

Kashya made her way back home through the city streets of Senchal where she confronted the newlyweds Ka'rin and Tsavirra in their bed. Despite Ka'rin's denial of his knowledge about Kashya's predicament, she flew into a fit of rage where she brutally stabbed her father in the face and eventually cut his throat. Somewhere in her rampage she also killed her step-mother Tsavirra along with her unborn child.

While Kashya waited for the guards to come and apprehend her, she was instead greeted by a black-robed Breton who presented himself as Celtian, Speaker of the Dark Brotherhood. The man offered the girl a new family who would never turn their back on her and who would always hold her dear, to which Kashya accepted.

Later life
Kashya rose fast through the ranks of the Dark Brotherhood, and quickly became one of their top coalition members, specifically a Silencer for Celtian, to whom she owned her loyalty and her life. By exposing a plot in which one of the Speakers intended to sell the Elsweyr sanctuary out, Kashya was tasked with bringing down the culprit, successfully assassinating her. As a reward for her services, Kashya was offered her place in the Black Hand.

Within the Dark Brotherhood Kashya found a lot of people like her. Do'shanji, a banished warrior monk, trained her in the martial arts of the Claw-Dances.

From a necromancer within the guild she also learnt how to change her appearance with the help of a glamour. Combined perfectly with her voice impressions she has made herself into what could be described as the perfect imitator or doppelganger. She was also taught basic resurrection spells which she experimented on with smaller animals like rats and birds.

An alchemist taught her all the secrets of potion- and poison-making.

From childhood to adult life she learned the ways of how to end lives with blades, with arrows, with poisons, and with her bare hands. With her gift of perfectly imitating the voices of other people she quickly became a prodigy, and a name to be feared, even among other assassins.

Though the Dark Brotherhood was an improvement, she couldn't find herself at rest with her new brothers and sisters. Even among them she stood out like a sore thumb. While the other assassins wished death upon others, Kashya wished death upon herself, but never had the courage to take it herself. Her fear of dying eventually turned into a fascination with the subject itself and she started to dedicate her entire life to understanding what death entailed before she would have mustered the strength to carry out the deed of suicide.

Personality and traits
Kashya is determined, quiet, observant, and nihilistic to the point where she has no fear for her own life or anyone else's life. She is always curious and eager to learn new ways and methods to end lives and as such come off as apathetic or ignorant to the misery of others. She also displays a morbid fascination with death and what comes after. Kashya somehow possesses the means to see the spirits of the dead, a strange ability that has followed her ever since she was a cub.

She does not fare well in direct sunlight as it makes her drowsy and weak, preferring to remain active during night time. This combined with her uncanny appearance has made people to more often than not mistake her for a vampire.

As a result of her troubled past she displays a stern reluctance of undressing and nudity, if not completely alone by herself. She frowns upon being touched and easily lashes out in anger to unprovoked physical interaction like handshakes and grabbing.

She also has a general distaste for establishments like brothels and the prostitution trade.

Skills and abilities
Apart from her imitation act, Kashya is incredibly swift, nimble and acrobatic. She is a master of blending in with crowds or disappearing into the shadows. She is gifted in the arts of alchemy and knows how to mix and brew poisons to end a man's life, or anti-toxins, to save a man's life. She also knows how to brew potions to further enhance and hone her own skills.

As an assassin she is quite skilled with both short blades and short bows, carrying both a pair of kukris and a compact short bow. Even without weapons she can fend for herself well enough, having been trained in the four Claw-Dances, the Khajiit martial arts, mastering Zis Kurah, or Whispering Claw. On the side she also dabbles with basic necromancy, yet has not come close to fully understand the secrets behind the veil of death.

Appearances
Legend of Nirn: The Daedra Wars
 * Part I
 * Part II
 * Part III
 * Part IV
 * Part V
 * Part VI
 * Part VII
 * Part VIII
 * Part IX
 * Part X
 * Part XI
 * Part XII
 * Part XIII
 * Part XIV