Medea: What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done out of spite?

“Probably murder.” Way to be entirely too matter of fact about that. “Spite is sometimes an uncomfortably strong motivator, I have to admit. But I’m pretty sure that’s the worst thing I’ve done out of pure spite. ” It was at least partially out of self-defense, but Saima is still willing to admit when their actions weren’t really justified enough to go that far. 

Medusa: Have you ever been punished with anything you feel you didn’t deserve?

“People trying to burn me alive for being a witch was probably something I didn’t deserve. I mean, I was probably so much worse than that – if they had been able to find out the truth. Sometimes rumor and beliefs doesn’t fall in my favor but it’s the risk many take just to continue existing.”

Oedipus: With hindsight, what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?

“I’m still on the murder thing – but I guess a particularly bad case was when I joined in the fighting against those who were trying to forcibly Christianize people. Encouraging burning people is probably not a great thing to do. 

There was also something I did as a kid, that was pretty gross and horrifying but the less detail I go about that, the better as far as I’m concerned.” It had to do a lot with what they were capable of eating. 

Pandora: What is the worst gift you’ve ever received?

“Worst gift? The chance to be an entertainer for court life during the medieval era. Although I had some good times, working for some of those people was not entirely enjoyable. And frankly, the environment was way too stuff considering I knew how all the people in my land were still not getting enough to survive. So I found myself sneaking away during the night quite often to do my best.”

Persephone: What is your favourite season?

“I feel like I have a connection with all of them for different reason. But I guess summer is one I actually really enjoy because it feels like everyone brings out a different side of themselves during that time. And I know the way that everyone gets into old traditions definitely invigorates me with an extra strong energy during those times. ”

Zeus: What thing are you most hypocritical of?

“While I try not to be a hypocrite, I do feel like I can be one about people indulging in petty fights about things I don’t feel like actually matter. When I am probably in no position to judge all that harshly myself. So I do try to shut up and keep to myself instead even when I am a little peeved by what I see.”

Alexandros: Have there ever been repercussions to your actions you regret?

“Definitely. Mostly there were certainly issues that arose when I tried to intervene on the behalf of individuals during rough times of occupation and subjugation – but I ended up trying to take the blame for others because I knew I would survive. It only seemed to make the consequences worse for those individuals in the immediate aftermath. I just, I do feel a little bad for that despite my best efforts to try and help -within the context of human society, it doesn’t really..work at times.”

Aphrodite: Have you ever fallen in love with someone you’d never have expected to feel for?

“Haha. For sure. And I’m just surprised everytime I even bother getting feelings for someone. It’s been such a relative rarity for me over the years that it does feel a bit special and somewhat terrifying about these situations. ”

Ares: What angers you the most?

[14 has been answered – but basically – ensuring the traditions and mythos of their land is involved with people into the modern day]

16. Do they dream? What are those dreams like?

Sometimes. These dreams tend to be a blend of their original ethereal existence and visions they have encountered from over the years. Occasionally they are current fantasies of desires gone unexpressed but ..those happen to many entities, surely.  The dreams are generally quite surreal in nature, nonetheless. 

19. How do they behave within a group? What role(s) do they take? Does this differ if they know and trust the group, versus finding themselves in a group of strangers? Why?

Saima tends to take the role of the listener and observer in a group. They are a quiet person by nature and that lends themselves to just being incredibly observant and aware of everything happening around them. Occasionally, they’ll interject with their opinion but only if explicitly asked for it. 

It doesn’t really change because they generally don’t trust all that easy so the behavior is the same. However, if they are among a more familiar group – Saima is more likely to actually talk, although they’ll always be careful about what is said. Since they don’t want to be a burden if it can be avoided. 

21. What kind of relationships do they tend to intentionally seek out versus actually cultivate? What kind of social contact do they prefer, and why?

[as addressed, Saima isn’t super one to intentionally seek out many relationships. Although they are more likely to seek out eccentric individuals and people who maintain stories from the old days just for a comfort aspect. They also seek out other beings with long lives just to learn from their adapting strategies. ] 

23. How do they respond to difficult social moments? What makes them consider a social situation difficult?

Usually by enforcing their boundaries and if necessary, withdrawing from the situation altogether. This happens when they are feeling particularly outdone with socializing either because of a singular person or because they have become low on the will to put on a persona.

24. How do they present themselves socially? What distinguishes their “persona” from their “true self”, and what causes that difference?

It depends on who they are around.

Among humans, Saima doesn’t really maintain much of a persona. Although they don’t give much information, they don’t exactly hide the fact that they have something of an ethereal nature to them. Since it is more likely to be somewhat comforting to humans from their land, or in general (although that might cause more curiosity than anything else).

Among personifications, they’ve played the role of Eesti Vabariik (Republic of Estonia) somewhat regularly off and on through the years. So it’s a way of conducting business with these entities. They have to specifically ground themselves a little more since so many are often familiar with them because of that engagement.

Though it makes them wonder, they have disappeared a number of times throughout the years – is it possible that some of these entities might have noticed that. They usually just assume those others might have been too busy with their own lives to care.

9. How do they manifest energy, exhaustion, tension, or other strong emotions?

Saima tries to keep their emotions private or at the very least contained so that their reaction doesn’t cause any suspicious interactions. But when it can not be helped, it tends to manifest in how they try to ground themselves. The stronger the emotion – the less likely they can pretend to be ‘normal’. Their aura tends to change to reflect their mood and the sense of otherworldliness which might be subtle but inexplicable before gets more and more obvious – especially in the way their eyes seem to get increasingly piercing. 

So the key to really gauging them at least physically appears to be in their eyes.

10. What energizes and drains them most?

Events that celebrate traditions and holidays seem to energize them quite a bit. And gatherings that seem to ensure the survival of their people and their truth seems to give them a lot of energy. But you know, music and reading about mythos seems to be a great way to keep them consistently energized and at ease.

Also doing little favors for people in the area always seems to help them quite a bit.

In terms of draining, usually when drastic events strike their land and despite their efforts, they can’t really maintain a presence among their people for too long. So for some periods of time, they might have flitted out – to keep an eye on things from more of a distance. Non-stop physical living during especially stressful times with no time to reprieve is enough to drive them to a bad place. And they found quickly about their need to retreat from the scene sometimes. 

11. How are they vocally expressive? What kind of voice, accent, tones, inflections, volume, phrases and slang, and manner of speaking do they use?

Saima has a relatively level voice but it does have something a singsong nature.  They speak with a way that makes you think they are carrying a soft melody, it’s often the nature of their  native language that gives that impression. They do use slang from other languages that they have picked up over the years – but it is more often seen in texts or online posts than anything else. 

They use inflection for being a little playful or sarcastic. And their tone can change sharply if their mood drops to the point – the voice in that case gets increasingly formal and curt.

Although they speak multiple dialects of Estonian, their accent is more akin to that of the northern Estonia – albeit perhaps an even older version of it than many are able to easily recognize.

12. How are they bodily expressive? How do they use nonverbal cues such as their posture, stance, eyes, eyebrows, mouths, and hands?

Saima’s eyes are incredibly expressive. They use their eyes to give their real opinion more often than not – especially in combination with their eyebrows and mouth. They have a way of giving looks that in silence say a lot more than words could readily express. While they try to maintain a neutral stance, their hands are also a way that they can help communicate a skepticism or confusion with a point someone else is making. 

And the color of their eyes actually says a lot – if they are grounded and trying to fit in – they have blue-green iris and white sclera. But in their more natural state, they have blue-green sclera and white iris and so if the latter eyes seem to peer at you – you are not looking at the Saima most people know. You’re encountered something akin to their true self.

1. How do they move and carry themselves? Pace, rhythm, gestures, energy?

Saima carries them with a certain kind of grace. They move smoothly and quickly, almost to the point that it’s hard to see when they were last. They navigate through this world as if it just another road – turning and gliding through the environment. There is definitely an airy quality that seems a little otherworldly – something a little too close to the wind moving past you. They do try to ground themselves a bit just to manage to not to draw too much attention – but they might resort to quicker methods to get somewhere in a hurry. 

They gesture with their hands lightly, idle and decisive measures to make a point with ease. There is a perpetal sense of ease in the way that they move. Not that they are lazy, it’s like there’s a comfort with their existence that comes from having multiple lifetimes under their belt. 

Saima’s energy is best discribed as moderate. They are a very calm presence to be around with a hint of always carrying a secret of something more.  If one is one from their land, there is a clear feeling of someone coming right out of the forest or out of the sea around them. Otherwise, there is this perpetual quiet otherness that is often hard to pick up on. 

[answered 3]

4. What is their size and build? How does it influence how they use their body, if it does?

In this form, Saima is currently 6 foot with a slender build with a little tone to their arms, legs and a curve along the hips.  It doesn’t really influence how they use the body because they are used to moving in such a way – although one could say their movements does fit the build of someone with a smoother silhouette. Although their appearance does make them more careful about how they interact with others.  Despite having pretty interesting abilities, they’re not going to go out of their way to start mess if they don’t have to. It’s just much more trouble than it’s worth.

5. How do they dress? What styles, colors, accessories, and other possessions do they favor? Why?

These days Saima dresses in a fairly casual fashion. They do wear clothes fitted in a more feminine style because they are more comfortable that way. Although they tend to go for a generally soft and comfortable look. With nice shirt-dresses, blouses, little skirts, casual trousers, layering with cozy and stylish sweaters, shoe-boots are a nice show that they tend to enjoy. Although in more lazy moments, they do have dorky t-shirts they might include in their coordinates for fun. They are always inclined to be well-put together in a way that flatters them. 

In warmer weather, Saima leans towards lighter pastels but as the fall season comes – they are more into neutral colors, green, brown, blue is still a favorite of all seaons and they have a weakness for a lot of black mixed in. The colors of choice just tend to associate with their feeing fo being at ease with nature. 

They wear light scarves, a couple bracelets to keep things casual and complementary. Despite wanting to look nice, they are still into keeping it simple at the end of the day.

Talk about the thing you regret most so far.

“The thing I regret the most so far. Uh. I…There is a story about myself as a youth that I have never told anyone and I don’t really intend on changing that. But there is an action that I took while I was no more than maybe 8 years old physically that signifies the end of my childhood and the realization that I could be no..ordinary person, that I could not really be any kind of good. I..At the time the action was justified but I still think I regret that a lot.Otherwise it was just.. things I felt I could have fought harder to avoid even though I could have failed in doing so.”

Talk about the best birthday you’ve had.
“I think that’s a toss-up for me. It’s between the first ‘official’ birthday that I had in 1918 when I truly felt like an adult and coming into my own after centuries of being stuck in this limbo state of somewhat maturing but never really being in control. And the other one is the 1st birthday after regaining my independence – it seemed to reinforce how important that day was to me since for so long I couldn’t celebrate publicly under threat of duress.”

Talk about the best dream you’ve ever had.

“The best dream? I think my favorite dreams often involve seeing my people in control of their own destinies and actually happy. It’s a lot to ask for but it’s a dream that I like having more than anything else. It’s a dream that’s gotten me through some incredibly difficult times more than once.”

Talk about your worst fear.

Saima is silent for a little while as if to think about it. “You know I’m incredibly wary about losing self-sovereignty. That would be a real nightmare for me since so much effort and sacrifices have been made in the service of becoming independent, and re-gaining independence – that to have that ripped again would be truly horrifying. It would lead me through a really dark period of questioning my existence for sure.”

Talk about something someone told you that meant a lot.

“I always have a weakness for personal stories from citizens about their grandparents and being able to remember interacting with those grandparents and seeing the threads of their families coming together. So I guess it means a lot to see the lines of family continuing on through the generations in spite of the challenges that my people have faced over the years. There is a resilience about them that is in incredibly admirable. It only serves to reinforce my dedication of service to them.”

Talk about things you wish you could stop doing.

A dry, dark laugh comes out of Saima’s mouth as their eyes drift off. “There are a lot of those things. I wish I wouldn’t deny my feelings. I wish I wouldn’t avoid telling people what’s on my mind so much. I wish I could stop self-isolating when I feel withdrawal periods coming on. I wish I could stop evaluating the motives of everyone around me. I wish I could stop doubting myself and putting myself down a little bit in my head. I wish I could stop being so pessimistic about being around others. I wish I could stop overthinking things until it practically drives me up the wall. I wish  I could… I wish i could stop doing a lot of things.  I suppose the issue is I know for a fact that I …I’m not really likely to stop. Despite my best efforts.”