Jovana Gwozdski
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Basic Information
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Jovana Gwozdski
Domna (noble title)
36
19th Rains, Year of Coins 8258 (Duabas the Double Tree)
5'1" (154cm)
Female
Human
Troubadour
Minstrel for Hire/Amateur Historian
Likes
Open spaces, citrus flavours, sponge cakes
Dislikes
Children
Personality
Sardonic // Secretly Optimistic // Studious // Stubborn // Dedicated // Charismatic // Narrow-minded // Self reliant // Proud
The pressures on Jovana by her family have made her an outwardly harsh person. She seems dismissive and even sarcastic in critique she gives to others, a reflection of the way her family brought her up. She is stuck to her ways, and takes quite a bit of convincing to change them, especially in dire situations. She is someone who lives by the book, finding it hard to sway even a little, though she does take exceptions every now and again. Jovana jumps straight to conclusions and spends very little time thinking on possibilities. Her ideas are usually inside the box, lacking flexibility and change.
She is stuck to any cause she agrees with, and finds it hard to say no. Jovana must see things that are started to a completion, and won’t leave requests hanging, or obligations uncompleted. It may start out as a gesture of generosity, but her ambition slowly turns into blind obligation. Showing weakness or unreliability would be her undoing, or so she thinks, to the point where she could knowingly step into an impossible task just because she wants to save face. It is not until the stress and burdens catch up with her, when she realises (and finally decides) she needs help.
She is not one to empathise with others openly, keeping her emotions to herself and expressing it in little other than music, where she feels she can really be herself. The obligations and complications that have come with her talent have bogged her down somewhat, though she would never admit she is having a hard time.
Despite that, she is one to hope for the best. A piece of her inside always looks forward to brighter things, that situations will get better. Her faith in a positive tomorrow keeps her going despite the harsh reality of things. She is willing to try and fail and try again, not giving up without giving the challenge a fair shake first. She believes in moving on and leaving the past in the past, holding no grudges. There is only the future to look forward to.
History
Jovana grew up learning about the heroic feats of her forefather, one of many troubadours from the founding company of Bratkowice. Being the first child to show talent in vocal magic in two generations, it was no surprise Jovana was buried in study from a young age to be taught the family art of healing and song.
She started her training as a song collector for her family’s hold, recording and learning all the songs of the local peoples. As time went on, she moved around the region learning different aspects of the art from others outside the clan her family had trained over the years. Once she mastered the family’s collection of signature songs in her late 20s, Jovana became the new pride of the family.
Jovana took to her newfound popularity quite well at first, though over time it was apparent that not all of the family felt the same - most notably her brother, who as the firstborn did not have the talent for the harmonic arts. Other relatives were bitter about her mastery, cursing their luck that it was not their son or daughter who was the genius. Some of the others were happy for her, and frequently brought all the hold’s problems and sickness to her for healing. Family gatherings were never the same, and it was like the entire clan was watching her every move to see if she would stumble in her success.
She would not give her disgruntled relatives the satisfaction of seeing her fail, and so despite the load of cases she was asked to take on as troubadour, she happily said yes to all of them. Duty she so gladly used to do before became tiresome, and her many commitments kept her from giving out her best at every session. Her family recognised she was perhaps straining herself, but she refused to reduce her work, insisting she was managing herself well.
Jovana eventually fell sick herself, but even then she only stopped her work when she started to lose vocal stamina. In recovery she discovered her vocal chords showed signs of permanent damage, thanks to her stubbornness to work day and night. She had to be more careful about how she used her voice from here on out, as it had changed.
Many of the trusted songs from her memory did not work as well as they used to because of her condition, and she took up the lute to compensate for her weakened voice. She had lost a part of her vocal range, and her voice in general had taken on a different timbre - grittier, deeper. Gentle healing melodies did not carry the same power as they once did. Try as she might, she definitely could not go about her craft the way she used to. Her immediate family became overprotective of her talent, and barred her from doing anymore healing work, even after she recovered as well as she would be able to.
Jovana was always an expert in following directions, but now she had to create new songs to accommodate the changes to her voice. She penned down tunes for the months after she put the task upon herself, but nothing as potent as the songs she already knew came to mind. Her creative endeavours were halted when the war broke out, and so she sent herself off to other lands to heal and entertain the masses. Somehow she was secretly glad for such a disruption - she no longer wanted to sit around and wallow in her creative slump. If there was work for her to do, she would very well go out there and do it.
Out on the field, she saw the injured from the front lines, those ravaged by dragons at Pereval… as much as there was disaster and unrest, there was something new that arose from all this that she could not put her finger on. Something she would write about, sing about.
The word she was looking for was ‘hope’. But even if she had no name for it, she knew what it looked like, and she would hold onto it through these troubled times. War was a perfect backdrop for such epic tales, after all.
Current Story
Travelling around Bratkowice gives her much to think and write about - as the world continues to sprout chaos, she seeks hope.
When the Molvahain begins a strange new song, she feels it her duty to seek out why it sings. A songstress in her own right, she continues her journeys away from home recording music and the times.
As the forest grows, she is there to help the displaced and do what she can to soothe the woods and its elven victims. She cannot say as much for the rising of the gods, but they are terrifying as they are song-worthy.
Additional Info
Fluent in Common and Bratibran. Knows a few words in Vikasa and Iadlic Canan from regional songs.
Most of her family are talented vocalists, but currently she is the only one who has managed to master bardcraft to its full potential since her great-grandfather. There are one or two harmonic healers among her relatives, but none as good as her.
Has a strained relationship with her brother, Dragan. He has resented her since she grew up talented in harmonic healing and he didn’t. She hopes they will reconcile one day.
Jovana particularly enjoys horse-riding. She has a black stallion named Wiater.
She has a tendency to dance freeform when she performs.
Jovana’s altered voice has diminished her capacity to make appealing healing music, but she has since turned her attention to emotion gearing songs, most notably war and folk ballads.
She can now only sing comfortably for about 30min before she has to stop.
Since leaving her family, she has penned drafts of ballads about the events of the current war. She has debuted some of them with clients, though they are not perfected yet.
Aside from ballads, she has also made written records about her travels and experiences. She understands this might be a pivotal time in history and it would be worth noting down for future generations, much like her songs.
Hold Information:
The Gwozdski Family
They are the descendants of a troubadour from the original founding company of Bratkowice. Pride for their heritage runs strong, and harmonic healing talent is today still highly valued among them. Gwozdski tradition dictates that the head bard must become the oral history knowledge bank and pass on the baton once the next head bard is discovered or nominated.
For the last two generations when harmonic healers were scarce within the main family, the head bards were picked from outside of the family. Jovana had to pick up the baton from these other people instead. They were lower ranked nobility.
Geography
The family hold is towards the south of Bratkowice, bordering the Kovok Steppes. It’s somewhat arid but not so far south that it’s a desert climate. It’s incredibly flat, but the odd elevated hill here and there gives a fantastic view of the colourfully segmented farmlands of the countryside.
Economy
The region is best known for producing what is known as ‘astralny lake’, made from a combination of madder roots and an insect colloquially known as bloodscales. When processed correctly, these dyes give off a sparkly, iridescent finish. (Basically fantasy cochineal/carmine)
Sheep and cotton are a common sight across the countryside to fuel its textile and embroidery industry as well. Their signature pattern/symbol is a star/asterisk (pictured).
Governance
The Onbram (currently Dragan, Jovana's older brother) and his family reside in the hold’s central castle and have elected representatives to manage smaller settlements nearby. They are in constant communication with each other with leadership ties that span generations. Most of them are trusted Vitez/a, or democratically chosen Mayors for each settlement.