I'll be honest, I don't remember much about Narissa as a youth, mostly because what little I did see of it seemed quite inconsequential to me at the time. She being young, brash, and prone to fits of whining and I being jaded, aloof, and generally unreachable even by my own guildmates, what little interaction we did have has since been lost to my failing memory as has been known to happen when you pass the age of 200.
The Narissa I know now is another story. Simply put, she is great and she cannot help it. Those who refuse to acknowledge it or fail to keep up with her end up paying for their mistake.
The night before her bid for the sands against Kodiak we discussed many things, but the part of the conversation that stuck with me the most was her lament that she perhaps made a mistake by bringing such notoriety to the guild through her overt actions and unwillingness to keep a low profile. As someone who has spent his life trying to remain hidden from the perception of most of Avalon, I could see her point, but a moment's thought about who we're dealing with here pretty much settles the matter.
Narissa is the Princess of Thakria, the longest running Guildmistress of the Thieves, has been a High-Priestess, is a top fighter, and yes, I may as well mention it, sets the standard in her treatment of the youth in our land.
This is more than most Avalonians will ever achieve. But it doesn't end there. She's spearheaded more than her share of successful military campaigns, and she's cut the throats of enemies and trampled on their corpses while laboring under eternal disfavour. Some of you may not realize, but we're talking about the woman who broke into Olympus and robbed the gods themselves!
On a more personal level, I've been enamored and awestruck by her strong personality as well as exasperated at times. Our interactions are always interesting and our time together has made my experience in Avalon immeasurably more fulfilling. There's proof of this in the RP section of this forum. I like to think our personalities compliment one another, she being the overachieving extrovert and I the more humble (at times), hidden and introspective counterpart. I am saddened by the thought that one day she will leave our mortal plane to take her place among the pantheon and I won't be able to shadow her there. I know it's going to happen. It's just a matter of when, in my opinion.
Narissa is great because that is what she is and couldn't be anything else. Think what you will of her, but to deny this is folly. I believe she's one of Avalon's most ambitious, ruthless and amazing mortals and I am thankful to have the privilege of calling her my princess, my guildmistress but most important of all, my friend.
