Esbilon
Seven Thousand Club
Character Sheet Link: Fianna
Preferred Game Speed: Low or High Activity - I can roll with either.
Backstory:
The Cloak Wood has an ill reputation among those who travel along road and sea, it is a province of bandits, monsters, and the fey. All of these things are true, but as with many things, how it treats outsiders and how it treats its own are two very different things. Not all who call those foreboding woods home wish to prey on unwary travelers, some of them just want to live their lives in peace. Alas, peace is hard to come by anywhere in Faerûn, and in this one respect, the Cloak Wood is decidedly average.
Aside from bandit camps (which rarely last long), there are no villages or permanent settlements of any size in the woods, its scattered inhabitants live their lives far from each other, and only meet occasionally. Fianna's mother, Beatha, was one resident of the woods who more than most saw her fellows more than most. As the resident witch, it was she who was sought out for helping with births, venomous bites, poisonous berries, and all other ills visited upon the peaceful people of the Cloak Wood. She never knew her father, and indeed went years and years of her life without knowing that fathers were a thing young girls generally had. It was only a few short years ago that her mother told her the story of an elven traveler who moved through the woods as if he had been born to them, who won the witch's heart, and who left again long before his daughter saw the light of day.
When her mother was called away, Fianna was left to fend for herself in the woods. For most young children, this would have been little more than a death sentence, but Beatha had pacts with the fey creatures of the forest and the girl was brought up as much by satyrs and quicklings as by the woman who gave birth to her. From her mother, she learned woodcraft, which herbs heal, and which flowers kill. From the fey, she learned the joys of song, the thrill of magic running through her, and the fine art of poking holes in other people with a well-forged blade.
As the girl grew into a woman, her will clashed with her mother's. Young and restless, she felt constrained by the forest and despite her skill, she did not wish to take up her mother's role in the spread-out community of the woods. She started spending more time with the fey, even when her mother was home in their little cottage. She loved the aging woman, but felt in her heart that her fate lay elsewhere.
From time to time, the lords of the Western Heartlands get a notion to clear the Cloak Wood of monsters and bandits. It is a futile effort, but when one too many peasant has gotten lost or one too many caravan has been robbed while passing by, they send adventurers and guardsmen into the forest. Not all of these men and women are particularly discerning when it comes to telling who is a peaceful woods witch and who is a bandit preying on their lord's trading routes.
One evening when Fianna returned from spending time with the fey, she found the cottage sacked and her mother murdered. It was clear that her mother had fought back, but equally clear that she had been outmatched. Anger and sorrow filled Fianna's heart, and for that night she cried and raged. But as dawn broke, determination overcame those raw feelings and she gathered what possessions she could carry and left behind the only home she had ever known.
Preferred Game Speed: Low or High Activity - I can roll with either.
Backstory:
The Cloak Wood has an ill reputation among those who travel along road and sea, it is a province of bandits, monsters, and the fey. All of these things are true, but as with many things, how it treats outsiders and how it treats its own are two very different things. Not all who call those foreboding woods home wish to prey on unwary travelers, some of them just want to live their lives in peace. Alas, peace is hard to come by anywhere in Faerûn, and in this one respect, the Cloak Wood is decidedly average.
Aside from bandit camps (which rarely last long), there are no villages or permanent settlements of any size in the woods, its scattered inhabitants live their lives far from each other, and only meet occasionally. Fianna's mother, Beatha, was one resident of the woods who more than most saw her fellows more than most. As the resident witch, it was she who was sought out for helping with births, venomous bites, poisonous berries, and all other ills visited upon the peaceful people of the Cloak Wood. She never knew her father, and indeed went years and years of her life without knowing that fathers were a thing young girls generally had. It was only a few short years ago that her mother told her the story of an elven traveler who moved through the woods as if he had been born to them, who won the witch's heart, and who left again long before his daughter saw the light of day.
When her mother was called away, Fianna was left to fend for herself in the woods. For most young children, this would have been little more than a death sentence, but Beatha had pacts with the fey creatures of the forest and the girl was brought up as much by satyrs and quicklings as by the woman who gave birth to her. From her mother, she learned woodcraft, which herbs heal, and which flowers kill. From the fey, she learned the joys of song, the thrill of magic running through her, and the fine art of poking holes in other people with a well-forged blade.
As the girl grew into a woman, her will clashed with her mother's. Young and restless, she felt constrained by the forest and despite her skill, she did not wish to take up her mother's role in the spread-out community of the woods. She started spending more time with the fey, even when her mother was home in their little cottage. She loved the aging woman, but felt in her heart that her fate lay elsewhere.
From time to time, the lords of the Western Heartlands get a notion to clear the Cloak Wood of monsters and bandits. It is a futile effort, but when one too many peasant has gotten lost or one too many caravan has been robbed while passing by, they send adventurers and guardsmen into the forest. Not all of these men and women are particularly discerning when it comes to telling who is a peaceful woods witch and who is a bandit preying on their lord's trading routes.
One evening when Fianna returned from spending time with the fey, she found the cottage sacked and her mother murdered. It was clear that her mother had fought back, but equally clear that she had been outmatched. Anger and sorrow filled Fianna's heart, and for that night she cried and raged. But as dawn broke, determination overcame those raw feelings and she gathered what possessions she could carry and left behind the only home she had ever known.
