Editing Campaign:Across Creation/Zinaida (section)

=== Background ===

Even before the Three Feather's family took to the skies in League airships they had known of Air and it's tempestuous children. On craggy wind-swept peaks they lived and only by chance of seeing a dirigible scuttling across the horizon did they leave their ancestral home. What they found in the League was incredible and, as family lore goes, the three eldest sons of the family all joined the Wind Fleet and made honorable names for themselves.


None of them survived their illustrious career.


Some generations later Zinaida was born, oldest of three children, sister to two brothers. Although not perfect the family agreed it was an Omen; it was their calling -- her calling -- to join the Wind Fleet like their great grandfathers had. However, unlike her brothers she was not inflamed to acts of senseless bravery by her family's stories. Being eldest had put her in charge and by Gerd's shiny white tailfeathers, she made sure they didn't kill themselves on accident!


Years of punching sanity into her little brothers made her a shrewd, if protective, warrior, and if it weren't for her steadfast resolve and level head they would have never been accepted into the ranks. To her chagrin, the whole unit they were assigned to was nothing but glory hogs and lunatics. It wasn't long before she was having to duel her peers, sometimes three at once ( hence the nick name, Three Feathers ), till they would fall in line. Eventually their animosity for her turned into respect, friend, and rivalry -- although the copious amounts of bootlegged alcohol she spoiled them with didn't hurt. It was no surprised to anyone when she was promoted to captain, but no one was prepared for what happened during her first ( and last ) sortie as command.


While descending onto the roof of fort an errant bolt skewered through her arm and ruined her shoulder, causing her to free fall onto the battlements below, with the resulting impact crippling a leg. To add insult to injury, a half-dozen militiamen surrounded her and one attempted to run her through with a spear but it's point only got her right eye. Unable to flee or fight, she yanked her eye from it's socket and ate it right off of the spear tip. The show of bravado had paid off and they retreated, but as Zinaida lay bleeding in the snow she wondered if it would've been better to have just died.