Carlie L. Droken

Carlie is the loving mother of Brutus's family! Although Carlie may look gentle and harmless, from her lilting, honeyed voice to her soft wool, she is perhaps the most stubborn and no-nonsense Sheepdrake of the Droken clan. After raising five kids within the keyaa ravaged lands of Raarkajkr all by herself, Carlie likes to say she’s become ‘a real tough cookie’. 

She has seen her friends and her children fevered and delirious with keyaa overexposure. Been the creature to spread bitter creams onto their burns and hold them as they shook, racked with too much pain to even utter a cry. She has taught her children how to tend to their crops. Brushed dirt from their sun-warmed wool, nagged them to bathe their stinky selves. She’s felt the ground under her hooves rumble in warning before seeing it crumble. Stood frozen in horror as fields of wheat and wildflower dissolved before her eyes and emptied into yet another void. The voids only seemed to increase over the years. Someday, she imagined, they would swallow Raarkajkr entirely. She took a breath, gathered herself. With a smile, she adjusted the basket handle in her jaws and instead imagined the smiles on her childrens’ faces when they realized she had brought home one of their favorite treats (Those flower shaped fruit tarts from the lovely couple just south of the river. Strawberry and pear, they adored those the most). Muggy wind tugged at her wool. Dragging her gaze away from the void, she walked home.

Trivia

• has a cackling laugh and tends to stomp the ground with her hooves if she finds something particularly hilarious. 
• Her love language is teasing others, also cooking for them (aka force feeding them if they look even slightly peckish).
• Very honest, will tell you what you need to hear even if it’s a little painful to. (But is never cruel about it)
• has a limp. Her left back limb has grown stiff with keyaa overexposure and scarring. It tends to ache on cold days (and in warning if a void or keyaa anomaly is about to occur). She tries not to let this get to her and instead focuses on the happy things – urging her children to see their own scars the same way. Though occasionally she does dwell on things and gets depressed/bitter for a bit. She makes efforts to not let her children see this side of her often.
• Although not an end-all solution, she believes cuddle piles can solve many problems :-). Also believes in screaming song lyrics off-key and as loud as possible.
• Likes to knit little animal plushies. They decorate the house and she sells them to other local families around Raarkajkr. (Also she gave this same hobby to Brutus, though xe has less time to indulge in it, and most of hir plushies are insect themed). Likes to carve little animal figures out of stones as well.
• Slow to truly anger, but when she gets there… Any creature within a 5-mile radius should be filled with fear.
• Sleeps like a rock.
• Will not hesitate to kick someone’s teeth in if they are being nasty or gross. (Maybe also give them a hoof to the gut if they are being specifically nasty to her kids).
• Collects shiny dangling jewelry to hang from her horns :> . She is fully aware of how tacky they are and relishes making other creatures cringe for it.