Talheera of the Amber Palm

A powerful hobgoblin woman with weathered copper-toned skin and a shaved head marked by ceremonial brands. Her body is a canvas of old bruises and reverent scars — not trophies, but a record of the stances she’s mastered and the traditions she protects. She wears a layered sash of knotted belts, each dyed and patterned to honor a specific martial tradition she has preserved.

She moves with the quiet weight of a temple bell — measured, patient, but unignorable when struck. Her gaze is steady, her posture flawless. When still, she feels like stone. When moving, she is poetry made muscle. Her bare feet make no sound, and she teaches the Patternbound not only how to fight, but how to remember through motion.

Talheera often stands alone at the edge of the Loom’s camp, watching the trees. Not as a soldier. As a wall. A breathing piece of history who has vowed that nothing important will be lost while she still draws breath.

Physical Description

• Tall, broad-shouldered, and muscular, with a graceful but immovable bearing.
• Ritual scars form intricate stances — each a cultural form recorded in the body.
• Sash is woven from belts gifted by cultures she has defended or preserved.
• Barefoot at all times, to honor her vow to never tread on a culture’s bones unfeeling.

Cord of Kin-Stances

A belt imbued with spiritual echoes of the martial forms it honors.
When worn, allows Talheera to briefly enter preserved stances from different cultures — enhancing mobility, defense, or memory-projection in battle.
Also used in ritual sparring rites to teach body-memory preservation.

Virtues & Perks

• Believes the body remembers what the mind forgets — and that culture lives in movement.
• Prioritizes Loom survival, but never at the cost of becoming what they oppose.
• Protects Patternbound not just with strength, but with lessons in discipline as legacy.

Religious Beliefs

Worships Irori, but through a cultural lens: balance and memory through motion, not personal perfection.
To Talheera, every stance is a prayer — every practice a preservation.

Mannerisms

• Teaches through motion — often demonstrating rather than explaining.
• Breathes in four-count patterns, matching traditional forms she teaches.
• Traces “ghost forms” with her hands while watching others spar or perform.

Speech

• Short, firm, direct. Every word has weight — silence is never wasted.
• Occasionally quotes forms like scripture: “Left Palm Honors,” “Third Bow of Return.”
• When offering praise, she touches her chest once — a rare gesture, deeply respectful.