Berta Sendai

October 31 493 (493-10-31) (age 21)

2. Lovely Day - Bill Withers
3. Don't Stop Me Now -Queen
4. Daydream Believer - The Monkees
5. Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles
6. Pack Up - Eliza Doolittle
7. Don't Worry, Be Happy - Bob Marley
8. I Could Have Danced All Night - Julie Andrews
9. You've Got a Friend - James Taylor

Better to smile than wear your sadness like armour - Lady Berta Sendai

Berta was born the youngest of six children to Lord Ister and Lady Trista Sendai. Holding the position of baby of the family suited Berta well and she had a carefree childhood filled with smiles and laughter. Perennially happy, it took a lot to dim Berta's happiness, but dim it did in the year 500 A.G when her adored mother died of a tragic illness. It brought home to the eight year old Berta just how fragile and fleeting life could be and for a while she became a small shadow of her usual self. Perhaps it was something she read in the long hours when she was buried in the family library, or perhaps it was something someone said to her when she was out on one of her solitary walks with only a guard in tow; but one sunny July morning of 501 A.G., the old Berta presented herself at the breakfast table and stated that she had found her smile again, it had been right there under her nose all along and she'd just forgotten how to use it.

She bounced her way through the next couple of years, never really knowing what she wished to do with her life. With such a strong family tradition in alchemy, it seemed natural that she be encouraged in that direction, and for the few weeks she applied herself to it, she showed a deal of talent. But it wasn't for her. Berta liked talking to people. Berta would talk to anyone. Berta was very much a people person and she decided that the thing she most wanted to do in life was to be a healer. At thirteen years old she took the entrance exams to the College of Healing in Amphorae and started upon what would become a quite tortuous four years for both herself and her tutors. It wasn't that she was terrible at healing, (though she was certainly no prodigy either), it was that her boundless cheerfulness, effusiveness and enthusiasm often rendered her deaf when she should have been listening attentively.

The death of her father in his laboratories, and the mysterious demise of her brother Pyrphoros when she was fourteen gave her family cause for concern that she'd once more retreat from the world as she had when she was eight, and perhaps she did. Perhaps she wasn't quite so happy and cheerful, perhaps her studies at the college improved as her bounciness waned. Perhaps. But whatever the pact was which she apparently made with herself in 501 A.G. it pulled her through, and it wasn't long before Berta was once more running into problems with her tutors. Time and again the young girl would have to be spoken to, and the College itself seemed to heave a huge sigh of relief as she finally passed her oral exams and was promoted to Apprentice status.

Some months later, it was a very excited Berta that received word from her brother Dion that she might join him on Gateway. She ordered her trunks be packed for her imminent relocation and booked passage on very next ship that had a berth.

A day without laughter, is a day wasted - Charlie Chaplin

Berta has an almost irrepressible spirit and its a rare day when she can't find something to be happy about. That's not to say there haven't been times when she'd rather curl up in a corner somewhere and be miserable, because there have been; the death of her parents and siblings being such notable events. Mostly though, its hard to find her without a smile for strangers or a ready laugh that threatens to spill over. Mischief lingers on the edges of her expression and she's easily distracted from serious matters with the promise of something more fun. As she's often been heard to say, 'Why grump and grouch your way through the day when you can do it equally well with a smile on your face'.

A smile is worth a thousand words - Proverb

• December 511 A.G. - Fresh out of the College of Healing, Berta is given permission by her brother to come to Gateway. She contacts Lady Charlotte Kilgannon and is taken on as a volunteer at the Radiant Light Community Clinic.

Strangers are just friends I haven't met yet - Will Rogers

Altair Margarelon Paggion - First time Berta met Altair, she thought he was a ghost. Seriously. She was lost in the Courtyard Maze at the castle and was spooked out by the sounds of running feet, and children's voices. Not to mention the fog. Then suddenly there he was, standing right next to her all fierce and tall and scary looking. It wasn't hard to think he was a ghost under such stressful circumstances, anyone would! Since then, they've shared a meal together and he's promised to give her a tour of the island on horseback. Its a friendship in the making.

Lady Charlotte Kilgannon - Charlotte Kilgannon was one of the first people Berta met on arriving in Gateway. She seems terribly nice and has taken Berta on as a volunteer apprentice at the Radiant Light Community Clinic. She also made an introduction for her to the Imperial Healer who runs the Castle Infirmary where Berta is also hoping to work. Charlotte can come over terribly stern, but Berta's certain its just because she has to, it can't be easy running the clinic.

The Imperial Healer - Everyone warned Berta what a grouch of a man the Imperial Healer was before she went to meet him for an interview. But she doesn't see that, he was terribly nice to her and explained the rules of the infirmary. She told him he could call her Berta and he told her he'd call her whatever he wanted to call her; so that seems like a wonderful start!

Lord Venator Marco Basso - Berta met Marco on the beach. He was throwing knives at a wooden target and she immediately asked him to teach her how to do the same. She wasn't very good, missed the target and lost a knife for him. She's met him a couple of times since, even taken a meal with him. She's not sure Dion approves of him, but a girl needs friends and Marco looks like he might be a fun one to have.

Healer Rosewood - Berta met Wynne on her first day at the Radiant Light Community Clinic. Wynne was just packing to go on a trip to Guardian to join others exploring the Fen March area. Berta's sure she and Wynne will be friends, Wynne's just so terribly nice and helpful!

I've dreams in hidden places, and smiles for when I'm blue

• Berta's oldest friend is a stuffed velvet rabbit called Bunny. She doesn't remember ever being without Bunny and she can't imagine a time when he won't be around either. He was dragged around on walks with her when she was a toddler, fed buttercup 'tea' and tucked up with her when she slept. She unashamedly took him with her to the College of Healing where he 'studied' alongside her. He has now come to Gateway with Berta, where he sits on her bed propped up by pillows, threadbare and worn as all loved toys ought to be.

• Berta loves dancing. In her own words, its second only to smiling. She cannot however sing and is apparently tone deaf (or so her tutors told her father).

• Berta has a wonderful affinity with horses and is an excellent horsewoman. There's nothing that gives her more pleasure than a thought of a day's riding and she's always on the lookout for others of like mind. Friends are wonderful; friends with horses are even better!

• People will often find themselves the recipient of a drawing or sketch from Berta, especially if she's reaching out to make friends or thanking someone for something. They're not the best, but she loves doing them. She's very prolific!

• Berta wears a silver crescent moon pendant about her neck. It was a graduation present from her brother Dion and its rare that she's without it.