Ashton

Character

Ashton A'kara is a GateKeeper dreamer in the City of Underlight. Formerly known as Ashton Prium, widow of Sylas Prium, Ashton is now a member of the Emergence Academy.

Ashton began her dreams aligned with the Emancipators of Men, alongside her husband, Sylas Prium. The separation of the Priums from the Emancipated led them to the Sect of the Prudent, following the leadership of Bortami and their guide Igteus. They served the Sect faithfully until Sylas' unfortunate death caused by a surge of energy from the Apparatus in the Lost Caves Pedantical Laboratory, as he attempted to repair Augh Essul's tools, severing his dreams forever and leaving young Ashton a widow.

Ashton left the dream, never to return, but something always drew her back. When the Sect of the Prudent was no longer a faction and became The Eternal Order when Ash was Ruler, she returned and joined up with them. Always feeling out of place and not wanted, Ashton withdrew into a quiet, miserable dreamer who held no friendships save for one, Ash. She disliked everyone on sight and kept everyone at arm's length.

Her departure from the dream again kept her away for a good number of months until she made her final return, having discovered that The Eternal Order was now merged with the Emergence Academy, now called the Scholars of Eternity. Ashton never did feel comfortable with this and maintained her loyalty to the Lambent crest. Over the course of a few months, Ashton opened her mind (and heart!) - discovering that there is indeed life after death in the City. When the merger of the Scholars of Eternity fell apart, she felt drawn to the Emergence Academy, having felt that the changes she had undergone personally reflected in the halls of the Academy, where she now resides very happily. She has many friends, even sisters in the City now. She does, indeed, dream happily.

Shard History

Emily Ashton A'kara was born to a modest fisherman's family in a village surrounded by steep, tree-filled mountains and a constant layer of fog. Before she was born, her brother Ashton - who had been the beloved and darling son of the family - perished in a violent storm on the seas that had taken him by surprise. He had taken his beloved out on the seas in the family fishing boat to ask for her hand in marriage, shortly before the storm blew in and capsized the boat. His beloved fiancee had, to everyone's surprise, lived to tell the tale of his final moments before perishing forever in the unforgiving seas.

Ashton's mother had never gotten over her son's death and made the impractical choice of having another child to replace the one that she missed so dearly. To her disgust and dismay, she gave birth to a baby girl, who she named Emily Ashton. She called her Ashton, to remind everyone of the son that she had lost. The birth had been a difficult one, and given her age, was urged to never have children again. Ashton's mother blamed this calamity on her only surviving child and took it out on her daily. At one point, Ashton's mother slashed her throat, in a mentally-unbalanced attempt to kill her, for reasons unknown. Ashton has suffered daily attempts of emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her mother, all the while behind her father's back who spends all of his time buried in his fishing and boats.

Her mother's frequent demands and abuse interrupted Ashton's sleeping schedule, prohibiting her from finding the peaceful, quiet time where she found her City of Dreams. At this time, Ashton's mother is imprisoned in a mental facility undergoing treatment after having attempted to slit her daughter's throat. Ashton now has uninterrupted sleep, although her dreams in the past have been as emotional and turbulent as her waking life.

Relationships

Ashton was married to Sylas Prium until his death attempting to repair Augh Essul's tools in the Pedantical Laboratory in the Lost Caves.

She has many friends and people she counts as family - her "sisters" if not by blood but by heart - Heaven Alexis, Nouvel, Callidora.

And of course, Ashton's Vampyre.