Laritza

Laritza
Race	Altierran
Born	502
Age in “Snow”	54
Occupation/rank	Handmaiden
Family

Laritza is a Criada Mayor at Rocosa, the personal Handmaiden to the Alta Sacerdotisa Jesenia. She is given the task of looking after Meg Maddison, although she finds this onerous.

Appearance

Laritza is an older woman with a severe, disciplined bearing. Her face is lean and hard-lined, and she carries herself with the stiff composure of someone used to authority and obedience. In the image, she wears a dark grey-black hooded robe with green trim, which strongly matches her official role and gives her a sombre, unsmiling presence. Her hair is hidden beneath the hood, and her hands are kept neatly folded, reinforcing her controlled, formal manner. She should be presented as stern, austere and intimidating rather than warm or approachable.

Character

Laritza is powerful, exacting and deeply committed to the hierarchy of Altierra. She is a Criada Mayor, and she takes her duties seriously, especially when it comes to discipline, training and maintaining order among the Bestia. She is not kind in any ordinary sense, but she is not random in her cruelty either; her harshness is structured, deliberate and rooted in her belief that obedience is necessary.

She is one of the central figures in shaping Meg’s experience in Rocosa and Sometria. Laritza is responsible for the purification ceremony, the training regime, and much of the punishment Meg receives. She sees Meg as a problem to be managed and corrected, and she is irritated by anything that complicates that task. At the same time, she is practical and politically aware: she understands the High Priestess’s orders and adjusts her actions to suit them, even when she dislikes the burden.

Laritza is also controlling and suspicious. She dislikes having to supervise Meg, but once that task is assigned, she manages it with ruthless efficiency. She is protective of the institutional order above any individual feeling, and she expects others to think the same way. Her treatment of Toia, Brisa, and Vila shows that she values compliance over sentiment, though she can still be subtly strategic when needed. In short, she is a rigid enforcer of Altierra’s system, not merely a bully.

Speech

Laritza speaks in a sharp, formal, and commanding way. She uses titles carefully and expects them from others, correcting errors immediately. Her language is clipped and efficient, often leaving no room for argument. She tends to issue orders rather than have conversations, and when she does explain things, it is usually to reinforce authority or procedure.

Her tone is often cold and dismissive. She frequently uses threats of punishment, not as emotional outbursts but as routine tools of control. She also speaks in a very ceremonial register when discussing the faith, purification, rank, and obedience, which makes her sound even more institutional and severe.

Laritza’s speech is particularly marked by the way she frames disobedience as ignorance or moral failure. She rarely wastes words on comfort or reassurance. Even when she is speaking about Meg’s future or the needs of the voyage to Alta, her wording remains disciplined and practical. She sounds like someone who has spent her life enforcing rules and expects them to be obeyed without question.

Timeline

Year	Age	Event
502	-	Born
5xx	00	xxxx
556	54	Maddisons enter Altierra

Images

Laritza