sydthesnekk

(continued personality): -the person in battle who runs ahead to try and take care of as many of the enemy as she can, desperately trying to prove herself. She’s highly critical of herself and others and often snaps at people for no apparent reason. If you catch her on a good day, when the sun casts shadows through the leaves or when the birds are especially chipper, you’ll find that while still armed with quips, she’s quieter, reminiscing about someone or something. On those good days, she enjoys dancing and braiding flowers into children’s hair just to see their toothy smile. But good days are hard to come by. 

Biography:

     Vanorra Graywind was born in a small village to the east of Gladewyn. When she was very young, young enough to not remember, her mother disappeared and her father was blamed. Blamed to the point where he was beaten publicly in the town square, leaving him permanently disabled and banished. Desperate, Vane went to her uncle Gael, who owned a farm on the outskirts of town and asked him for help, begging him to save her father’s life. He agreed to heal her father and house them, in exchange for Vane and her sibling’s (Elora and Nindr) indefinite service on his wheat farm. With no other option, Vane agreed. She and her family lived the next years in what could only be described as hell. Her uncle beat them, spit at them, forces them to live in the musty wine cellar beneath his home. It was cold and dewy and offered up very little food. Though there were two bright spots on the farm. One of them was Ilena, Vane’s aunt, who made sure that Vane and her family were always fed, though most of the food went to Vane’s younger siblings. The other was a half-orc stablehand named Raz Ehrlich. Younger than her by many years and born to a rich merchant mother, Raz was carefree and enjoyed the work on the farm. On weeks when Vane’s uncle was away at fairs or selling his goods, Raz took her on adventures. He taught her how to hunt rabbit and how to climb trees in the dark. He took her to a local tavern (The King and Crown) and they danced through their shoes and filled their stomachs with cheese, ale and bread. It was the closest to living she thought she’d ever get.

     For a while, there was a shaky sort of peace. Vane would suffer at her uncle’s hands on the farm, but at the end of the day, she’d sneak away to talk to Raz. Except that, that peace was meant to be broken. One day in early spring when Vane was 19, Raz told her that his mother was moving them west, in search of bigger buyers and opportunities. Raz was going with her. Vane was heartbroken. No more lazy days lounging in the sun, no more nights in the tavern, no more holding in laughter when they hid from Gael, no more anything. It’d just be her, Nindr, Elora, and her father. Don’t get me wrong, Vane loved her family, but the farm had changed them. They were sad now, too tired to smile or do anything that wasn’t work or sleep. Raz begged Vane to come with him, to let his mother take care of her family. Come live with me out west, he said. I want you to be happy. She wanted to be happy too. She wanted to be with free with Raz somewhere, but to abandon her family, leave them here with no guarantee that they’d be helped, would be selfish and cruel. Vane told Raz no through gritted teeth. Someday, she said. When I’m free of this farm and my uncle, I’ll find you again. Raz sighed to himself, perhaps knowing that asking her to run away with him was foolish. He stuffed a piece of paper in her hand, covered in messy, inky letters. It was the name of Raz’s new town out west. He closed her fingers around the paper. For when you come and find me, he said. Vane didn’t know how to tell him that she couldn’t read.

     Many years after Raz had left, when she was 20, Vane had enough. Her family were skin and bones, robots with no free will. They were shells of what they once were, barely living and just existing. She should have left with Raz all those years ago, should have gotten out when she could. These people were on death’s door, and Vane didn’t want any part of it. So she left. She stole one of Ilena’s bags, stuffed a dagger, Raz’s directions, and a sack of coin she had saved into it and slipped out the only window in the cellar. 

     She wandered the lands of Arcas for a while, sneaking food from markets and sleeping in alcoves or under trees. It wasn’t much but it was living, she was making her own decisions, doing what she wanted, living on her terms. But still, she felt incomplete, like there was something missing. She couldn’t read, she had no friends, she never stayed somewhere for more than a month. Vane was desperate for a purpose, and that purpose came in the form of a wise dwarf named Banon. Banon found her, sleeping by the back door of the tavern he worked at, The Silver Weasel. Maybe it was out of pity, or maybe because he was lonely too, but Banon took Vane in, letting her sleep in his house below The Silver Weasel. He became a mentor to her, teaching her everything that she needed to know. He taught her to read, taught her about wars and monsters, heroes and tragedies, and the Merciful Creator. She spent years living in Banon’s house, laughing with him and reading with him. It was close to perfect, even if some nights she had to push away the vicious guilt and regret that wormed in her stomach when she thought about the family she left behind. She finally had a purpose, to learn.

     Now, she lives on the outskirts of Caelia, burying herself in books and treasuring the world she lives in. She still travels to visit Banon occasionally, who is still as spry and quick as ever, but mostly is focused on trying to figure out who she is and how she can face her family and Raz again.