Kehpri

Kehpri is the single most sweet individual one could ever wish to meet. He is kind to everyone he meets, generous enough to give up his allowance to buy food, clothes, and other necessities for less privileged Ptithians, and will even spend time sewing cute fen stuffies for children who can’t afford much during Yuletune. He is gentle towards all creatures, and hyper-empathetic, even sympathizing with Ptithians who make the (ultimately poor considering who his mother is) decision to bully him. He won’t take it too personally most of the time, and instead feels sad for them because he worries something has been done to upset them to the point of lashing out. He’s considered childish by most due to his odd hyperfixation with Fens, and tends to accidentally drive away potential new friends his age because he always carries around his Fen stuffed animal and won’t stop talking about Fens in general. Despite his mother offering him anything he wants whenever he wants it, Kehpri isn’t spoiled to the point of expecting things to be handed to him, and has great manners, thanking others who do anything for him even if it’s their job. Though often seen as naive because of his determination to prove that everyone is good deep down inside, and because of his tendency to be a doormat to others, Kehpri is not stupid, and is actually quite aware of the cruelties of others. He just chooses to counteract those cruelties however he can instead of believing they’re inevitable and lashing out himself. He’s aware of his mother’s shortcomings, and his empathetic nature also allows him to realize how much she suffers because of them and try to show her a kinder way of living. He loves her very much despite her harsher views on the world and is determined to change her mind. He adores Fens; he’s always been fascinated and captivated by them. He started volunteering after school at a Fen Rescue and gets along better with them than with children his age, as they do not judge him for his “weirdness”.

Kehpri has no idea how much carnage followed his birth. His mother Niatra kept even the false story hidden from him. He was born during the night, to Niatra Nuru, a Tucruit extremist, and her equally extreme family. The family pressured her to kill him, but she refused to believe he was “truly” nightborn, because the stress of believing her sister and husband were having an affair is what sent her into the early labor. Niatra ended up hiding Kehpri away and murdering her sister, husband, and mother; ripping her own leg off in the process and blaming the whole ordeal on a defective Home Defense Automaton and lying to say he was born that morning. In his early years especially, Kehpri was mostly isolated with his mother, who pampered and doted on him all hours of the day. She almost never left his side, extremely protective and paranoid for his safety; as if she thought someone would find out about his birth time and try to kill him. His first toy was a pink stuffed fen doll, which he nicknamed Stuffie, and who he became extremely attached to and still carries around today. He was given mounds of other, high quality playthings, sun shawls made of the best materials, the gorgeous “backyard” of the mansion decorated with all of his favorite things and with play sets for him to enjoy (all under the watchful eye of his mother of course.) Niatra would read to him before he fell asleep each night, his favorite story being “The Lonely Fen”, which he had her read almost nightly. This sparked a desire to read himself, and a love of books and learning; especially if it had to do with fens. Fens started to become a hyperfixation of his. He studied (and still studies) them with a passion, and could tell you anything about them. He would ramble off fen facts to Niatra every day, and she would listen lovingly. She would buy him tiny glass blown fen statues, fens made of marble, fen themed blankets, pillows, and a fen hoodie. When school started however, other students were not so patient with his one-track mind, and quickly grew annoyed with him. Despite his outgoing, affectionate, and empathetic nature, and his honest desire to be friends with everyone he met, Kehpri was not good at socializing with his peers in a way they liked. Some of the children would pick on him, call him names, and jeer at him for carrying Stuffie around everywhere. Being sensitive, this made Kehpri distraught, but he couldn’t help but feel empathy for his tormentors as well. He’d often cry not only for himself, but for them, with the fear of them being upset if they got into trouble. There was more than one occasion where Niatra would find out about a bullying incident, and then March to the bully’s parents’ homes or places of work and threKehpri to destroy their livelihoods if the mistreatment of Kehpri continued. This dissuaded most, but also left Kehpri without friends due to their wariness to interact with him. This wasn’t helped by his tendency to avoid playing any physical games, always choosing to pass the very very few times another child invited him to play something like tag. As time went by, Kehpri started noticing his mother’s prejudices against… basically everything that wasn’t herself, Kehpri, and the royal family. He wasn’t able to comprehend why she thought that way, as the more time he spent around other species, hybrids, social classes, and religions; the more her delusional way of thinking confused him. He began teaching her, albeit slowly, to be kinder and more understanding. It’s… a work in progress. He also began using his vast wealth for good, often going out to poorer districts and distributing food and other necessities. When he was about ten, Kehpri began volunteering at a local Fen Rescue after school. He had a real knack with the creatures, being able to soothe them and earn their trust faster than most, understanding what their behavior stemmed from by their body language, and otherwise contributed plenty of love and kindness to the animals. He strove to make their lives better. He hoped to become a researcher, behaviorist, and eventually run his own rescue. Shortly after he began volunteering, it was time for him to receive his eye tattoo. Kindness, of course, was the virtue he was most seen expressing, and was therefore what was chosen. The day came when Kehpri came home from school to find that a new lefiká was tending to the succulent garden in front of the mansion. She introduced herself as Maye, said that Kehpri’s mother had hired her to help tidy up their home, and that she was looking forward to getting to know the Nuru family. She was only about two years older than Kehpri, so they became fast friends. Unlike most, she was fascinated by Kehpri’s fen knowledge, and encouraged him to tell her more. Her upbeat disposition despite her condition of crumbling caused Kehpri to adore spending time with her. Niatra was pleased that Kehpri had finally made a friend, so she’d often give Maye extra “activity” money to go take Kehpri to have fun outside of the home despite her fretting until he got back. Sometimes, they would head to the theater to watch actors, other times, they’d go get some sort of treat, or watch merchants come and go. However, Maye was much more adventurous than Kehpri, who had always been told never to do anything physical that could be dangerous; from racing, to jumping on a trampoline, to playing contact sports, to hiking, he just never joined in. Maye began to change his view on life, never forcing him to do these more “exciting” things, but inviting him to. He started joining her, and went with her on a hike where they overlooked the desert. They had a conversation where Maye told him about some of her more adventurous activities, and how she wasn’t scared because she wanted to live life as much as possible before the crumbling took her. This changed Kehpri’s outlook on safety in life. He started taking more risks; though nothing too wild. He began flying more often, venturing from the safety of the city to see new sights, and partially adopting Maye’s view of filling life with as many unique experiences as possible. Kehpri is still young, trying to come into who he is and what his (non fen) interests are. He still patiently tries to change his stubborn mother’s views, and spends as much of his free time with Maye as possible, wanting to learn from her and grow as an individual himself. He’s attempting to make the world a better place, one step at a time, and will likely continue to do so in the future.