Naiad Oakwood

Naiad Oakwood is 24 yrs old and 5ft 3in tall. Most relatives and friends shorten her name to Nai which she finds quite appealing; some call her Ni-Ni which she loathes. Arian and Kale often tease her with ‘Ni-Ni,’ which she suspects is because they know she hates it.

Despite the fact that her lurid red skin is offensive to anyone with a hangover, Naiad’s face has a strange allure that is just quirky enough to make us reassess our idioms of beauty yet also a touch too creepy for us to deem truly attractive. They do say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder however in this instance Nai is likely the one to be holding our plucked-out eyeballs.

She is the playful sort with an outward persona that could be mistaken for a girl much younger than her years. She is an energetic, eager, and bubbly soul who drinks wine as though the nectar of gods were running dry. She may act innocent but is far from it. Her idea of play consists of some rather dark contraventions to normality. She appears to disassociate actions and consequences and therefore has little sense of social, political or moral correctness. Most of life is merely a game to her. Being invulnerable to weaponry and possessing healing abilities are likely the reasons she does not understand the concept of suffering.

Knowing she serves Luka we are less surprised that Naiad has a skewed perspective of reality. She sees little ill in certain heinous acts, for example, murder is more of a chore to her than a worry. It’s as though there is a wire missing in her head, specifically the one that identifies the difference between good and evil. So far as she has ever known war is play, and no-one she likes gets hurt or dies.

She pops and zings in off-balance ways. An utter mismatch when you realise that concentration and physical balance is something that as a professional circus performer Naiad knows better than most. Being part Damselfly obviously gifts her with a few unique abilities. Flight is the least of these. She is able to bend and flex in a way that would make even the best contortionist green with envy. Her one learnt and cultivated skill is healing others, a talent at which she greatly excels.

Her translucent wings are impressive no doubt. A few of us wince at the many times we’ve plucked the wings from crane flies, lacewings and all manner of bugs, we secretly wonder if it would hurt to pluck those huge appendages out and begin to feel bad about the idea until she reveals that she also loved plucking the wings from smaller insects as a child. This left us a little lost for words. After all, wouldn’t that be like us regular folk going around pulling the toenails from anyone smaller than us? 

To say her heart is as pure as the driven snow is ironically apt; pure in its icy intention, unrelenting and defiant. Her anarchistic goals are without question in her mind.

Nai may be a little freaky but we like her a lot.