 Born in a Tuchuk camp in the month of August during a peaceful time on Gor, Salem is the daughter of Strykes. She stands 5'6" and weighs in at 125 pounds. Strykes was a well known and respected physician throughout Gor for her skill as a physician. Salem knew at a young age that she wanted to follow in her mother's footsteps and learned from her everything that could be taught. When Salem turned 13, Strykes sent her to the city of Ar for a more formal education. Salem excelled as a healer and soon found herself traveling the same circuits as her mother, many times assisting her in medical procedures that pro and confounded many Goreans. Some just shook their heads when Salem stepped up to perform a healing task because they knew Salem could not only heal the body. Her spirit and calm demeanor would also help to heal the mind. She Is a firm believer in laughter being the best medicine and she loves to bring a smile to the faces of those she loves.
Once, Salem lived for a bit in a city that shall remain nameless. Her heart lost its fire and forgot how to sing. She continued to practice medicine but her demeanor changed. Strykes had stayed behind in a Tuchuk camp but Salem's heart was unsettled. She was restless and took up traveling again, though she missed her mother terribly. She went back to the camp her mother had stayed in. When she arrived, she was received graciously and a great feast was prepared for her in her mother's honor. Strykes had passed into the Cities of Dust trying to save the Ubara after they had been kidnapped during a raid. The Ubara was face-stripped and raped and the Ubar slaughtered by honor-less bastards. The Ubara had been whipped, cut, and beaten nearly to death. Strykes sneaked into the wagon where she was being held and tended her wounds and her spirit. Slowly the Ubara's spirit began to heal and the band of raiders noticed the difference. They began to watch the physician who had been given free reign to tend their own wounded. She did so with her head high and her Tuchuk pride intact but her heart lead her to the Ubara to help the sister she loved so dearly. One night, the guard at the Ubara's prison wagon pretended to be asleep and caught Strykes sneaking into the wagon. Upon catching her, he slit the throat of the Ubara as she watched. She knew this was the end. She waited for this "man" to command her to kneel and as she did so, he began to cut away her clothing, enjoying the show. Her heart burned with anger but she waited, allowed him to let his guard down thinking she would not fight back. All the while the foolish man did not check the good Doc for weapons and she was slowly sliding her wrist dagger from its sheath. As the man loosened her hair with his hand, he was stabbed with a poisoned hairpin. When she heard him curse at the prick of the pin, she lifted her dagger and ran it up the man's groin. She knew that he would bleed out painfully as the poison killed the neurotransmitters in the man's spine. She watched as the life light flickered and died. He deserved no better. She moved over to the Ubara and held her lifeless body, waiting for the death she knew would follow. She had killed a man. Even though she was defending her family and her own life, nothing mattered any more. Death would be welcomed. Salem sat quietly listening to this story, her eyes overflowing with tears but her heart bursting with pride for her mother. She settled with these people for a while, feeling the love and honor they had held for her mother and, alas, her heart was taken by a warrior who gave her the right to loose the bracelets of the healer and become the fine physician she was, Those two children, born of love, Seth, named for her brother she has still not found, and Mariela, who lives today still in the city of Ar.. Her warrior died honorably in battle defending her and their beloved home.. After the death of her mate, Salem just couldn't find peace in her own heart...or her own skin for that matter...so she bid the new Ubar farewell and left with her medical wagon and the laboratory that had been gifted to her. Her guards and some 20 men who had pledged to protect her in her travels...and travel she did...alone but never really alone. She visited many places and met many people. She had rescued a baby sleen from the anger of a weak and mindless smith who could not take his frustrations out on another man who may have given him a fight. He used a very young sleen cub.. Salem found her, repaired her and loves her to this day. She is Salem's protector, Leucanya, lovingly known as Luci. It is with Luci now in the Tuchuk Camp of Harriga that her heart once more learns to sing and her story continues to unfold. |