He was 3 and it's the first memory he can recall vividly. His mother had given birth and they finally allowed him in to go in to see her and the babies, he had been so excited. Two new siblings to play with instead of just one!
They were very small and patchy. Parts of their skin are darker, not as dark as he, mamae and papae are but that makes sense since they haven't had a chance to get dark like them yet, but parts of them are very pale. He asks mamae and she says it's normal. That sometimes babies and people have spots and patches like leopards or horses. That makes sense.
He likes their patches, they're fun and interesting and help him tell the small bundles apart. Samahllen, his new little sister, has patches near her mouth while his new little brother, Thenvas, has a big stripe of white skin across his eyes. They have more spots but those are the best ones for telling them apart. Mamae reminds him to be very quiet and gentle and papae settles him on the bed. Nehnara holds his breath, reaches over and very gently kisses both of their heads.
He cannot wait until they are big enough to play with.
When they do their differences become more pronounced than just where their spots are. They're both dark like the rest of them now except for those white bits and both of them like longer hair that Mamae and Papae braid and style for them like they do for his. He loves them both very much and is thrilled when they like him back, he's read stories were siblings don't like eachother and he's very glad that's not them.
Samahllen is rambunctious and loud. She screams frequently about almost anything. She is also a liar and a theft. She takes things because she can and makes games out of it and lies generally because she can. She gets in trouble at school for causing chaos between her classmates with those lies. She's unphased by what little punishment she cannot seem to wriggle out of and keeps up with her mischief unrepentantly. He decides that she's too good with people for anyone's good whenever he watches her work firsthand. It's fun, how she can twist things around so bad no one can tell a truth from a lie but he alsos see how it hurts people. That's not as fun. She is too sharp, like both her brothers she is perceptive and clever but unlike them she has a special way of drawing people in even when they know she will bite. But she is silly and good hearted so it's okay— most of the time.
Thenvas is quiet and thoughtful. He always looks angry or unhappy but that's apparently just how his face is. He asks a lot of questions and reads a lot of books. He wants to know everything about everything. Nehnara lets him look at all his school books and even lets Thenvas do his homework sometimes when he's feeling lazy. Thenvas gets in trouble at school for talking back to teachers and making the other children upset. He does not like being told to do things he finds pointless or baby answers and argues with his teachers about how they teach. He is not good with people like Samahllen or Nehnara are, he is blunt and honest and does not understand that sometimes you have to lie or say things a special way to not hurt people's feelings. He gets better after Inanallas comes, she is very delicate and since he wants so desperately to be her friend he has to learn to not make her cry all the time.
Nehnara himself is firmly in the middle. He is social like Samahllen without her record but curious like Thenvas without his sternness. He knows that he is the most popular of his siblings, the most liked and most trusted because he is not as extreme. He doesn't think it makes him better and it bothers him at times people don't love the twins like he does, but he understands. They are difficult and he is not.
But there is a reason all three of them choose Dirthamen's vallaslin when they come of age.
Nehnara likes to keep secrets. He doesn't like to hoard them for their potential value to be used at a later date. He likes them because they mean something to others, and what telling him means to the people who own them. He's been told he's very kind, the twins call him a bleeding heart which he's happy about. He wants to be kind. He wants to help. He's not sure what it is about him but people seem to like to tell him things, admit to feelings and thoughts they would never tell their loved ones. Over time people actively seek him out to talk to him, he becomes a sort of back alley Keeper, listening to things people are too afraid to say in brighter places and giving them advice, a shoulder to cry on or just someone to listen. He's more than happy to, and he never tells a soul what he's heard. Regardless of the content, not even to his siblings. He keeps them safe inside himself so their owners can be free.
Samahllen is a criminal. He doesn't judge or disapprove, he sees just like she does that there's an advantage to having friends in low places. She is suited for it, she is a puzzle, all layers of truth and lie even he cannot pick apart. And she wears those layers like an armor and would be enemies. She files her teeth to points. It's an act and not an act, just as much bravado as it is genuine. She's become too wrapped up in her double life of lives and hidden daggers she cannot tell him real truths, knowing his will always keep his silence. He worries for her, it's a hard choice to make, to chose a life were you cannot trust anyone. But she has the skill to thrive in it and he is glad for her help from those darker places.
Thenvas hunts for knowledge, for answers to every thing. He wasn't born a Mage and it's obvious that bothers him deeply. Everything that interests him is related to magic and without his own he cannot truly understand much of it. It's unsurprising that he and Inan are so close, in some ways he lives vicariously through her but they are also like minded on many things. They have questions about things that do not have answers yet, desire to move beyond the known. They wonder in whispers about where souls go and what's beyond the Fade when they think no one can hear. Thenvas is regarded with unease and suspicion. He's young, intelligent, angry and unafraid to speak his mind. He is a revolutionary and if he were to decide to revolt they would never be able to stop him. When Thenvas leaves mysteriously only to return with new found magic and tattoos like Inan's he is not surprised, concerned, but not surprised. If anyone could find a way to steal magic for themselves it would be him.
