A lot of things add up to Shadya not recognizing quite as much about herself as she thinks she does. First premise: one's stats are "grown into." Therefore a starting character acquires the stats he has at "young adulthood", say, at about age 18 - or even a little thereafter. A younger character than that has, of course, his adult potential but it probably is not wholly realized. The younger he is, the less it is realized. And, of course, early teeners may well have an "ugly duckling" stage wherein it is difficult even to imagine their potential.
I don't know that D&D has rules for this; I'm making it up as I go along.
Facts: Shadya is in her early 20s (I wanted her between Kaylyn and Lierra in age.) Shadya was raised with a group of girls of her own age. Shadya was fostered at an appropriate age to a Bedu tribe for training. Shadya was not considered a full adult when her classmate Aishya died, which was about 2 years ago. Shadya had not long been considered a full adult when she was sent off with her classmate Zabbah to [the city] on her first Official Job.
Appropriate Cultural Facts: girls assume the veil as a mark of having reached womanhood. Turag warriors assume the veil as a mark of manhood - at about the age of 9-13. A woman need stay veiled only when strangers are present. If the males of a family decide that a non-related male is no longer a stranger - is, in fact, to be trusted within the family - the family women may choose to go unveiled in his presence as well. The Turag warrior stays veiled most of the time - even, for some, while sleeping. I have been unable to determine what determines when the Turag warrior goes unveiled - but I have pictures of such a one unveiled with his son, so it does happen. The Turag warriors particularly stay veiled while eating - a fact I was surprised to discover; it seems so awkward from my point of view. Perhaps practise makes it easy.
I need to actually set down the rules by which Shadya wears the veil, given that, for her, I am drawing upon both traditions.
Shadya was just 18 when she was tested by Zabbah's lord in [the city]. Shadya tested then at her full strength of 18/++, and it was enough to help her kill a somewhat more experienced male. So, if she stayed in that situation for , say, no less than half a year, she could be now 20. Thus she was 17 when Aishya died and had not come into her full strength yet. to imagine their potential.
The reason this is important is that Shadya obviously believes Maysa to have been the powerhouse of her group ... and, frankly, I find it hard to believe that Maysa would have been even stronger than Shadya is now. So it seems reasonable to me to think that Maysa came early to her strength (and was about a year or a bit more older than Shadya) and Shadya came late to hers. Not having been able to test the difference due to Maysa's mental illness - Shadya still believes Maysa to be the stronger and more impressive of the two. to imagine their potential.
She also believes that Nura and Zabbah were the beauties of the group. Unfortunately, the dice seem to believe otherwise, having pegged Shadya at about as comely as a human gets naturally ... and with a not inconsiderable charisma as well (just below Kaylyn's). That poses a bit of a problem, if we are not willing to believe Nura and Zabbah to have goddess-like beauty, which I am not. So ... I think we have here both a case of "ugly duckling" and the interference of the veil..
The Tribes who are willing to foster warrior children from the Temple of Tears want them at a trainable-but-not-too-young age. I'm guessing that age 10-13 is about right. I also figure, depending on the child. I also figure, depending on the child, that the fostering may be for 2-5 years, the Temple wanting them back at the end and (possibly) periodically for polishing. Shadya (and, possibly Maysa) foster with the Turag-equivalent tribe. Let's call it the Beni Turaz. Shadya's dex and skills with animals probably stood her in good stead with the Beni Turaz, even though her strength had not developed at such an early age. I daresay she and Maysa had various opportunities to practise Bedu raiding and be named warrior by the Beni Turaz. Thus when she returned to the Temple for her finishing work, Shadya was dressing as a Turaz warrior, veil and all.
So, at the age of 10-14, Shadya was not at all pretty. Too tall and skinny, with eyes, hair and facial structure still not showing much promise. When she returned to the Temple, her sisters had also "taken the veil" but - in a place mostly of women - it scarcely mattered. The fact that Shadya (and, possibly, Maysa) had "taken the veil" as warriors rather than as women made a difference. Women wear the veil for modesty and need not maintain such in the home environment. My interpretation is that warriors take the veil for modesty's sake as well, but a warrior must be on his guard most of the time - even within the home, for one may be more prone to unseemly boasting within the security of the home environment. So - as women warriors - such as Shadya are even more obligated to wear the veil than most. Shadya has to be feeling really comfortable and mellow to drop her veil. to imagine their potential.
So Shadya grew into her beauty as with her strength, slowly. By the time she was 17 or so she was wearing the veil full-time, if only as a reminder to Maysa who, I think, was inclined to forget a warrior's modesty at times. It didn't really matter as, by this time, the group had gotten so used to thinking of Nura and Zabbah as beauties that they didn't really notice that Shadya had grown to be one too.
Zabbah and the harem ladies noticed once they got Shadya into women's clothes; that was part of the fun they were having, Shadya being blissfully unaware. And Al Wahhab definitely got a shock when he saw. I suspect he was expecting something different by far; I think that a beautiful woman who never, ever used her beauty was something beyond his experience.
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