Born out of wedlock to a young couple, Elisif Aarensdottir was raised unclanned in a small settlement up North. She lived with her mother (who died shortly after the birth of her second child), her younger sister (two years Elisif's junior), and her father (who died eight months ago). Not unlike many unclanned families of Norland, there wasn't much honor in her way of living. Life felt grueling and inconsequential. Elisif had known a terrible labor of glass and fire before she knew how to count.
Though artisan Norlanders may be unconventional, her father, a glassblower, was a skilled craftsman and had been quite well-known throughout the land in his prime. Glass being an expensive and rare commodity for its reliance on diligent craftsmanship, Elisif's family knew a basic financial stability that offered an education for both Elisif and her younger sister.
A childhood in her settlement was rather lonely. Perhaps Elisif did have friends to play with, but the eldest of an artificer did not have much time to spare. Not much is remembered outside of the numbing winters and the cruel fires of the kiln. Much to her father's dismay, Elisif was never the religious type, but even she found herself helplessly praying to the Allfather for guidance in what felt like an eternity of darkness.
Elisif worked alongside her father until the day of his death, and it was then when she surrendered to her sister's plea of a new life. She would find work somewhere-- anywhere-- and write back as soon as she found a life for the two of them worth living. Being a barmaid, for example, was not something she would be willing to halt her sister's life for. For now, her sister remains waiting in the wings as Elisif reaches out to new beginnings.
