Sashimi:

Sashimi: Dang TM, your skillz are growing by leaps and bounds! Really neat pic!

Sashimi: These are some excerpts from my conversation:

So there was no prearranged murder plot to begin with. I continued …..


Now that part had me worried when Kaz said she plotted in the short term sense, but then he replied with ‘snap judgement’, and made the rope cutting comparison. So that sure sounds like a spur of the moment decision to me.

But I was starting to waiver on the strength of my argument


Now I admit that including Katia into the blame mix was a bad move that was motivated primarily by defensive measures. I was feeling hurt, and I reacted poorly.
Afterwards, I wanted to reply in a way that didn’t sound like I was assessing blame to Kat, but I couldn’t find an acceptable solution, so I turned to Kaz again for advice…

So yeah, like I said earlier, it was a bad call on my part, and I retract my statement, but Kaz made a good point about how Rajirra was concerned about the level of risk. It goes back to when Rajirra says that she’s not a fighter. Imps and such are dangerous magical creatures, jobs better left to the Fighter’s Guild.

I started feeling a bit better afterward…...for a short while at least. But then I began to falter once more.


So I guess in the overall scheme of things, either possibility is valid. She may indeed be the bad individual that some believe, or she could be the flawed, but fundamentally good character that I propose. As Kaz stated, the amibguity surrounding her doesn’t preclude my assessment of her.

Now the final portion I wish to cover is the comparison of Rajirra to Sigrid and Gharug. Raj has been lumped into the same catagory as the others: As manipulative, coniving, devious criminal scum! I simply cannot do that!

So much has been said about how rudely Raj treated Kat. Well look how Sigrid and Gharug behaved, they were kind and receptive, AND TOTALLY SCHEMING BASTARDS! They were kind to Katia so they could lull her into a false sense of trust, all the while planning to screw her over. That sounds pretty damn cold hearted and sadistic to me.

Rajirra on the other hand, just wanted to be left alone. She was rude to Katia so she’d go away. If Raj had intended to take advantage of Kat, wouldn’t she also have put on an act of kindness in order to fool her?

The thing is, if the imp fight had gone as planned, then I certainly believe they would have collected the reward as planned, Rajirra would have returned the rope to Katia, and they would have continued on with their separate lives. So I simply cannot see Rajirra in the same damning light.

So to recap:
There was no premeditated plot to kill Kat.
Raj’s fleeing and subsequent locking of the door was indeed spur of the moment.
Raj’s lie to the shopkeeper was poorly contrived.
Raj fled without collecting any reward.
Her behavior towards Kat was rude, but the explanation is open to interpretation.
Raj was indeed civil during the encounter at the well, (so that reinforces my belief that she was troubled by some other issues earlier.)

This leads me to think of her not as a bad character, but as a flawed one. One that should at least be pitied.

I don’t absolve Raj of her actions. She committed a terrible act, but I just can’t accept that she’s beyond redemption.

Sashimi: Post return:

Skipping ahead a bit to the last time we see Rajirra in the comic, the moment that cements most peoples opinion of Rajirra is when she runs out of the imp fight, leaving Katia alone.

While many people put this down to her being terrified and fleeing for her life, the flash game actually shows her glancing at Katia before slowly scooting away from Katia before bolting out of the room and sealing the doorway behind her with her spear.

These do not appear to be the instinctive acts of someone terrified for their own life. These look more to me like thought out actions. Rajirra clearly saw that the threat that she perceived as minor was in-fact greater than she'd anticipated and decided to get out of their. That's fair enough. Most sane people would do the same. The big issue is that she willing trapped Katia behind whilst preventing the imp from following her. This complete lack of regard for Katias life is further evidenced by the fact that Rajirra doesn't even come back. Even after the lengthy boss battle, Rajirras spear is still left blocking the door. If any aspect of her actions were being driven by a primal fight or flight response, it should surely have settled by that point, allowing her to realize what she did and go back to either see if Katia was ok or try to get some kind of additional help.

No. Whilst leaving Rajirra specifically told the shopkeeper downstairs that she was "leaving you her weapon and an expensive Summon Storm Golem scroll while she ran to get her poisons". A clearly self serving excuse designed to do nothing but but allow Rajirra to maintain her 'good image' with the shopkeeper while buggering off and leaving Katia to die for all she knew.

I could accept Rajirra 'not being such a bad person' if her current standoffish ways had any apparent, valid cause, but they don't (as far as I'm aware). If her actions after witnessing the imp boss were out of sheer, unbridled fear, but they really didn't appear that way to me.

Whether she's just like this with Katia, or with all other strangers, Rajirra appears to act in the belief that she only needs to care about number one, herself. It's sad that life would lead someone to that mindset, but it's still a mindset that a person can hold and other people are well in their rights to call them an asshole for it.

That's why I think Rajirra (up to this point) is an asshole.

This is where I TOTALLY DISAGREE! I do say this was a spur of the moment reaction driven purely out of fear. Rajirra had no intentions of betraying katia until the moment the murderboss appeared and she reacted out of sheer terror. She didn’t even stick around to collect any reward, which is proven in the comic.

It’s also been suggested by others that Rajirra had plotted from the beginning to kill Katia, and collect the reward. I can comfirm that is FALSE. Took the liberty of contacting the one person who could give a reliable answer. I contacted Kaz through Discord and asked him directly, which he has stated ANYONE is free to do.

Sashimi: Again from AMK’s post:

Another great example of what I believe is a sense of eliteism on Rajirras part is right at the bottom of this update
http://www.prequeladventure.com/2014/09/3563/
where she finishes with

"Unless there is something else Khajiit wishes to waste this one’s time with?"
Come on. How much more clearly can someone suggest that they're more important/better than you than by outright stating that you're wasting their time?

Okay, so just before that ‘wasting my time’ remark, Katia is about to take the rope from the well: [quote] You ask the Khajiit if she wants to, ah, take this rope. You saw it here earlier so you’re guessing it’s not hers.
She tells you that, seeing as how it doesn’t belong to her, she’s going to do the responsible thing as a contributing-member of society and not steal it in plain view like some sort of racial stereotype. You know what she’s trying to say to you, but right now you’re on a quest. Besides, the rope’s been here for a good ten hours by now. If someone needed it more than you do, they would have taken it already. And it’s not like you’re stealing it; you’ll bring it back later. It’s lying on the ground now and you’ll probably drop it back on the ground whenever you’re done with it.
The Khajiit makes a low, growling sound, but is otherwise silent as you gather up the rope. When you’re done, she mentions that it’s wet and late at night, and that she wants to go back home now.

[/quote]
Okay, so clearly Rajirra iis outside in the snow and cold, she’s wet and not very happy, and she’s being distracted from completing her task by Katia. Someone whom she figures is incapable of doing the same cause they’ve not needed the skills to survive. She also get’s annoyed at the notion of Kat taking something that doesn’t belong to her.
I’d say that’s pretty commendable civic respect regarding taking the rope, and again, I can totally sympathize and relate to Raj’s desire to get back home so she can get some relief and comfort from the elements, not be kept outside chatting. I’d argue that anyone in that situation would be annoyed and curt.
Returning to AMK’s post:

On the next page, suggestion submitter 'Sans-sanity' made a pretty good point about Rajirra possibly feeling as though her position as the 'town Khajiit' (and all the jobs that come with it) is being threatened by Katia's presence. Maybe she acts this way towards all other Khajiit who pass through town? We don't know, but she would appear to get on well enough with the Khajiit bartender who saw fit to exclude all Khajiit from his tavern with the exception of himself and Rajirra. Could there be romantic reasons for this, or is it just because they get along like normal civilized people do? What's a matter for the shippers.

Romantic involvement, or is it respect due to the bartender being of a kindered social status? She respects him because he labors just as she does?

The page after that has a nice little section where, when asked 'what the plan is' for dealing with the imp infested attic, "She tells you that she is planning to go in there, run the imps out – or through – and get a reward. For both of your sakes, she hopes you pull your weight and aren’t useless."

Again, I’d surmise that Raj thinks of Katia as unsuitable for fighting imps given her presumption about Kat having a cushy, and easy life.

It should be noted however that this page also elaborates on how Rajirra is now in Cyrodiil because she 'fled' from her previous home. "A functional Khajiit runs away from danger, not headlong toward it" as she put it. We don't know the details of what happened in her past, but I think we can safely assume that it was pretty damn unpleasant for her to flee to another province with little in the way of plans for the future. Is a shit past a valid excuse to act like an asshole towards someone? Life can really fuck people up if given the chance, so it's impossible to know what she's been through and how it's effected her. Still though, is it ever acceptable to let the memories of the past effect your present interactions with others so negatively?

I agree wholeheartedly with the above. Something quite unpleasant must have occurred, and it’s impossible for us to know at this time. And yes, terrible events can scar one emotionally for life.
Is it acceptable? Again, without knowing what happened I can’t answer that, but I’d say it at least bears some consideration what she may have experienced, before judging Raj.

Sashimi:
Rajirra has had to struggle and fight to eek out a living, taking odd jobs and enduring the predjudices of humans and elves She also talks about taking odd jobs around town ( To quote Raj )

“.She helps townshumans and good-wizard Sigrid with odd jobs that need deep-climbs, long-jumps, or sight-in-dark-places or scaring-eye. Fixing weather vanes, finding lost keys, scare away wildlife on jobs too small for fighter’s guild, and the like.”

I would surmise that Rajirra has an attitude more closely resembling how a person from the country might perceive a city dweller (city slicker). Seeing Katia as someone who has has an easy life of luxury compared to Rajirra’s one of struggle and toil.

I cite several reasons for this belief:
1: Katias speech
2: Katias apparel
3: Katias well kempt appearance
4: Katias youth and subsequent perceived inexperience and naivety.

Katia’s speech was an instant clue that she was not raised in what many khajiit would probably consider a ‘normal’ situation. The other characters in the story even mentioning that they’ve never heard a khajiit talk like a redguard.
Rajirra even commends Kat’s parents on providing her with a respectable upbringing.

Katia’s apparel would be another signal to Raj that Kat is not a typical working class khajiit. She’s wearing her mages robe the first time they met. Seeing her in such garb would be another confirmation that Kat comes from a life of ease, and excess.

Katia’s well kempt appearance was noted later on in Tavia’s shop when Raj made the remark about Katia’s well manicured nails. To quote the page:

You ask her why, because things usually turn out for the best? No, she replies, because it’s annoying to listen to well-manicured kittens whine about how miserable their lives are.

Raj would have had to notice this during their first encounter, since Kat was wearing the raiment gloves at this time. But this would further reinforce the perception of a non laborer.

Katia’s youth and subsequent perceived inexperience and naivety is something that I can imagine would bias an older khajiit. Many older people seem to be naturally skeptical of the abilities of someone younger than they, and unfairly pass judgement. Rajirra most likely sees Kat as an overprivileged, underexperienced and spoiled rich khajiit that she has little in common with.

So to summarize; If it’s not a preoccupation with other troubling matters that account for Rajirra’s rudeness, then I believe Raj suffers from the bitterness a poor, working class person might have toward those who come from priviledge. I at least think this is a reasonable explanation.
Is it fair that Raj acts this way? Does it excuse her? No, but it is understandable, at least to me. I can relate to Raj in that I am of the working class poor as well, and I do admire her for not being afraid to get down and dirty. But she still should be more cordial.
So yes, she is assholish, but for reasons I say are forgivable, or at least pityable.

And let’s not overlook the fact that at their next encounter, Rajirra is cordial, at least at the beginning. She actually takes time to talk with Kat in a civil manner. (That would signal to me that she was upset about something earlier)

Okay, so the next area of discussion concerning her dismissive behavior

Sashimi: Okay, so the past few days have been a bit tumultuous with much debate as to the nature of Rajirra’s actions concerning Katia. Many consider her to be a self serving, maniacal bitch, unworthy of redemption, or forgivness.

I can certainly understand peoples feelings given the unkind way she treated Katia, (especially the whole locking her in a room with a giant murderous imp.)

But I’ve always held a firm belief that Rajirra was infact, not a bad character, but a good soul who was troubled by the time Katia arrived in Kvatch. This position stems from my perception of Rajirra’s interactions with Katia which I’ll try to explain in detail.

AMKitsune created a detailed explanation of Raj and Kat’s interactions which was pretty damning, and I think represents the mojority view of most Prequel readers, so I’ll use that as a comparison, but I happen to disagree with much of the assessment in that post.

There’s three general areas I wish to explore:
First is the reasoning for Rajirra’s rude behavior towards Katia
Second is the infamous murderboss fight, where Raj ditched Kat and locked her in.
And third being the comparison that Rajirra is no different than Sigrid or Gharug

So, I start with the first point, Rajirra’s rudeness:
It has to stem from a reason. Either Rajirra is already upset about something, and Kat has encountered her while Raj is preoccupied, or there’s something about Katia that Rajirra simply doesn’t like.

Now I’ve maintained that something had been troubling Raj from the beginning, something like she’s dealing with a pregnancy or other distressing issue, but the fact is, that is only my own speculation, and there’s no real evidence on which to base it other than my preconceived notions of how people interact.

So let’s look at the other possibility; that Rajirra simply takes one look at Katia and instantly dislikes her
From AMK’s post.

Possible cultural BS aside, this is not how you inform someone making an attempt to speak your language (for your benefit) that they're doing a poor job of it.

And just to make sure there's no doubt that this response is unwarranted, this was in reply to Katia greeting her with

"Good hunting, clanmate! My name is Katia Managan!"
"This one severely doubts that. What does it want?"
"Just wanting to chat? It has been long time since I met another Khajiit. My Ta'agra is maybe rusty."
"Every word it speaks rapes the language of its ancestors. Violently rapes it with a thorny, Khajiit cock. My ears beg for death. Death which they are denied."
"I am sorry, I did not understand that. You use simpler words?"
"Aaaraaaraaargh. Fine. What does it want?"
"Just saying hello?"
"Or so it tries."

There's being grumpy, or not wanting to engage with people, but this is just plain brash and offensive.
Trying to talk to her again resulted in:

"I have never known other Suthay-Raht. Would you like to hang out later? Hang out and do Khajiiti things?"
"Khajiiti... things? It means like, share moon sugar? Knock over a bank? Or is it coming on to me?"
"I am very sorry, I did not understand you again. You use simpler words?"
"No. Just no."
"Aww. Okay."

Katia clearly isn't exactly up to scratch with Khajiit culture and speech, so wouldn't the sensible thing for Rajirra to do in this situation be to assume Katia's a little oblivious to the meanings of what she's
saying? I mean, you wouldn't take offence if someone who's clearly struggling with the English language happily and enthusiastically told you "this thing is shit!" when they likely meant "this thing is the shit!". You'd hopefully politely inform them of their mistake and carry on.
The third and final interaction with Rajirra in excelsior was the shortest.

"So maybe sometime we could-"
"No. I'm very busy."
"Oh."

At this time, Rajirra was seemingly randomly wondering around the lower right corner of Kvatch. (this is probably just a limitation of npc's in the game, but that very much makes "I'm very busy" seem more like "I'd rather be doing anything else right now")

The point that I feel needs to be taken away from this first encounter is that, besides a less than perfect attempt at speaking her language and a couple of minor cultural faux pas, Katia introduced herself in as positive and friendly a manor imaginable.

The response to which was an effective "I don't care, you speak terribly, go away."
Generally speaking, I'd call a response like that a bit assholish.

Okay, so yeah, this comes across as pretty assholish. Now I certainly don’t think you can include the fact that the sprite doesn’t leave the vicinity as evidence for her motives. Like it’s stated above, it’s probably a limitation of the program.

But let’s go back to her behavior. As I mentioned before, It always struck me as though Rajirra was moody because she’s troubled about something. I mean most folks who behave like that are upset about something and don’t wish to be bothered. Indeed, this is just speculation on my part, but anger or despair come from something.

Now it’s been suggested that Rajirra is rude simply because she doesn’t like Katia from the beginning, but why?. She’s been called an elitist snob and too good to be bothered by Kat

That’s certainly a possibility, but to be honest, I wouldn’t call Rajirra elitist, at least not in the high society sense. Rajirra is a working class girl as evidenced in the comic. She’s not dressed in fancy clothing, but in peasant garb.

When Raj is explaining her coming to Cyrodiil, (which was a civil discussion btw) you can see that she’s been through a difficult journey, given the tattered state of her clothing, and the arrows jutting from her pack.

Sashimi: @Toryu-Mau: And for the record, there maybe 5.

Sashimi: @DOOMGUY11: Well we gotta find a way to make you hella glad!

Sashimi: Haha! Nice one TM!

Sashimi: @DOOMGUY11: That's hella mad!

Sashimi: AHHH! Scary kat!

Sashimi: Nice, this is an interesting style! Are you the artist?

Sashimi: @scoopski: Wait, I thought the Cathay's were larger?

Sashimi: Oh, I have an excavator! But actually, I said something earlier which I regret now. I was feeling defensive and made the statement about Kat sharing some of the responsibility for the situation. That was in poor taste and I retract it. I apologize for being insensitive. Believe it or not, I do really like Katia. Amk made some good points, and I can see why people see her in that way. I hold firm my resolve though because I still have a different perspective for those events, which I plan to post later. Just an alternative viewpoint.

Sashimi: But in the overall scheme of things, I guess our arguing over fictional characters is silly. I know we get quite passionate about some of them, and lose sight of what we're doing. I know I can easily get carried away with this, as do others. Let's just agree that we have opposing viewpoints and leave it at that.

Sashimi: @PermanentFace: Taken from Katia:Weigh options,"With Rajirra out of the picture, you just earned 170 septims." So that sure sounds like she didn't collect. And when she eyes katia, It looks to me as thinking "Oh shit, you're on your own!" Something that's spontaneous.

Barring the door, whether she considered that Kat was locked in or if it was a blind reaction with that I can only speculate on what she was thinking, but that is where we agree that she did a terrible thing. I'm not saying she doesn't deserve punishment, but I don't think she deserves to die.

@CaptainLackwit: Sorry CL, But I'm stating it at a technical truth. If I talked someone into joining me in a scheme, and things went terribly wrong where they were endangered. No matter what the outcome was, I would always be forced to accept the fact that It was my idea to include them. And I was responsible for getting them in that situation. That is the truth as how I would feel in that case, even if they screwed me over in some way. That acknowledgement of culpability would be inescapable to me, and it would influence my reaction afterward.

Sashimi: @DOOMGUY11:

Sashimi: @DOOMGUY11: Um, how can it be good if it's horrible?

Sashimi: I know it sounds like I'm trying to get her off the hook scott free, but that's not the case. I'm not defending her actions in locking Katia with the Imp, but trying to get people to consider a different point of view before determining her punishment.

Sashimi: @PermanentFace: Now please don't misunderstand me, Just because I support Raj doesn't mean I'm against Katia, but it's the truth when I say she does bear a small portion of responsibility in this. Raj was set to go home and mind her own business. Not take on some dangerous creature that would most likely result in her death.

Katia has a habit of getting into situations that she's overly ambitious and ill prepared for. I liken it to the annoying neighbor that you can barely tolerate, who talks you into helping in getting the squirrel out of his attic, only it turns out to be a rabid raccoon, and you get bit for your trouble.

My point is, yes I agree that Rajirra committed a terrible act, and I don't absolve her of it, but like I stated before, Raj is no fighter, and would not stand a chance against a magical being of that magnitude, so of course she's gonna be terrified. She wouldn't have put herself in that situation had not Katia convinced her to participate. So there should be consideration for that.

Rajirra was probably so out of her mind with fear that she didn't even think about the fact that she locked Katia in, it was pure survival instinct. Not malicious intent.

And I don't think she collected any reward, just hightailed it outta there..

Sashimi: Those without sin shall cast the first stone!

Was Raj rude to Kat, yes. Was she contemptuous? Apparently, and we can only speculate as to what Rajirra's reasons were. But what is not speculation is the FACT that if not for Katia, Raj would not have even been there. Katia bears responsibility for getting Rajirra into a situation for which she was NOT suited for. Rajirra said it herself that she's not a fighter. She's a survivor, and a pragmatist. She knew getting involved with the Imp ordeal was a bad decision.

She tried to convince Katia of that. "A functional Khajiit runs away from danger, not headlong toward it" and. "Imps and such are dangerous magical creatures, jobs better left to the Fighter’s Guild" is what she said. Raj's failing was to follow a foolish khajiit on a fools errand, and in doing so, was herself endangered by that decision, and it was mortal danger! Combating a giant imp with lightning powers was not what she signed up for.

Without any magical abilities of her own, and not being a skilled fighter, what was she supposed to do? Be horribly maimed or killed for some stranger? I'm sorry but I'd never expect that of someone. I don't blame her for fleeing. Locking Katia in was a terrible act, and she should be accountable, but I think she deserves some leniency given the fact that it was Katia's idea, not Rajirra's to take on the job. If it had been Raj's idea, and she did the same thing, my opinion would be completely different, but sorry, Katia is culpable to an extent in this matter.

Sashimi: @DOOMGUY11: True, one wouldn't forget, but hatred is poison to the soul, and holds you prisoner. Forgiveness can be truly liberating, and I'd like to believe Kat has the capacity for it.

Sashimi: While I don't believe Raj is a bad, or wicked character at heart, she did make a poor choice which she is accountable for, But to me, this seems out of character for Katia, She doesn't strike me as the revenge type.

Sashimi: Well to be fair, this is supposed to be Rajirra's descendant with the same name, isn't it?

Sashimi: @LuminosityXVII: But Lumin, they can still have a fight and then make up, perhaps even a kiss!

Sashimi: @DOOMGUY11: That is the consensus. In my story, she's already lost three kids prior to this, and so she's deathly afraid of losing another.All the trauma of that experience comes rushing back when she's confronted by the imp, and she panics.

Sashimi: So, just an idea that was posed to me which I incorporated into my fic. The possibility for Rajirra's actions were due in part to her discovering she was with child, and it was fear of losing that child which caused her to panic and act irrationally. It's just something to consider anyway.

Sashimi: @Toryu-Mau: I second that.

Sashimi: Or maybe, Not snap the neck, and instead find some mud to wrestle in!

Sashimi: I WILL FIGHT THIS! But I must admit, this is a really good pic!

Sashimi: OH YES! More Raj!

Sashimi: @Toxic: That is supurb news!

Sashimi: OH, gimme,gimme,gimme! Yes, put it all on HOLLANDAISE!

Sashimi: Awesome! So does this mean the big game project is back on track?

Sashimi: Wunderbar Lapma!

Sashimi: This is one damn fine piece of fanfiction if I do say so!

Sashimi: @Sashimi: All the relevant pics are in this pool http://www.prequeladventure.com/fanartbooru/pool/view/12 I don't have all of the pics posted to the booru yet, but most are.

Sashimi: @DOOMGUY11: Yeah, this is from a fic I wrote about Raj's earlier days.

Sashimi: Fantastic job with the fic Draggy!

Sashimi: Really like your sketches!

Sashimi: @DOOMGUY11:

Sashimi: Here's a little somethin Toryu-May whipped up for me. It's Rajirra as the Egyptian goddess Bastet. Thank you for making this TM! I hope we see more!

Sashimi: @SilentOrbweaver: Heh, no worries there. I've pretty much imposed my own headcanon where Raj is concerned.

Sashimi: @CandyDragon: It's funny you mention that cause I was just thinking about the game where she chases down Stephane and how she would run like a regular cat.

Sashimi: Hellz yeah I like! Nice to see a new Raydio pic!

Sashimi: This deserves to be colored!

Sashimi: Oh dang! This is very nice! Any pic with Kat or Raj in a lovely dress gets my approval!

Sashimi: @SilentOrbweaver: But Kaz doesn't draw khajiit with digitigrade legs.

Sashimi: Very noice Draggy! The only thing that would make this better would be a bucket! Lol!