name. zinrie meliamne
nickname. zin
age. 95 ( appears early 20s )
gender. female ( she/her )
orientation. biromantic bisexual
race. wood elf
hair. brown
eyes. green
height. 5'9"
class. ranger ( beast master / wolf companion named nymph )
proficient in. animal handling, athletics, insight, nature, perception, survival
languages. common, common sign language, elvish, giant
having been raised in the woods, zinrie found herself at tune with nature. her parents taught her the ways of the woods, making sure that they taught her things like what was edible, what was safe to touch, and the dangers that lurked within the trees. one of the other things they taught her was how to use a bow. it was the best way for her to travel through the forest and have a way of taking down dangers without getting into direct danger herself.
the older she got, the more she started to truly lean into the forest and the ways that it exists. she became in tune with the things going on around her, learned how to explore without needing to worry about a guide. and then one day, she was in the midst of a battle and when calling for aid, managed to summon forth a world that took down some of the enemies in front of her, giving her a chance to notch an arrow into her bow and aim it for the last enemy.
from that moment on, the two worked together to travel through the forest together. she learned that nymph ( the name she'd given the creature ) was not of the material plane pretty quickly and that if she disappeared, she could bring her back. it made it easier to travel knowing her companion could never truly die.
she sticks to the woodlands, wandering through them and exploring at her own pace. when stumbling across adventurers that need a guide through the particular area she's in, she offers a hand. it's the least she can do when she knows the terrain so well.
name. haze
nickname. the smile-less one
age. 28
gender. nonbinary ( they/them )
orientation. demiromantic demisexual
race. air genasi
hair. white
eyes. heterochromatic ( right blue / left purple )
height. 5'4"
class. warlock ( archfey patron / zybilna )
proficient in. arcana, deception, insight, investigation, perception, stealth, survival
languages. common, primordial, sylvan
born to an elven woman who had fallen in love with a djinn, haze was a miracle to behold and the only lingering presence the woman had to her lover that vanished shortly after their night together that had resulted in their conception. she called them their little miracle and showered them in affection day in and day out to make up for the fact that they only had the one parent.
haze was a little ball of energy as a child, always running here and there and floating around much to their mother's dismay. they were never up to mischief necessarily but rather wanted to explore the world around them, always finding it fascinating. their mother was terrified about letting them wander too far, not wanting them to disappear as their father had. haze tended to do as their mother said, staying close to their home so as to not worry her too much. but one day, there were people passing by talking about a carnival that was coming to town. their excitement was monumental and they begged and begged their mother to let them go. but she refused, not wanting them to get lost in such a crowded place. disappointed, haze found themselves deciding to take go anyway, even if their mother didn't want them to. they'd go and be back before she ever knew they were gone.
the problem was, of course, that haze had not thought about the fact they would need money for a ticket to get into the carnival. and so they waited for the opportunity and snuck inside without paying. it was everything they had hoped it would be as they wandered through, nothing but childlike wonder in their eyes. their smile was wide and bright, a glowing beacon in the darkness of the night.
that smile didn't last as the night went on. they couldn't tell you what had happened but at some point, the smile dimmed and eventually extinguished like a candle at bedtime. no matter how many attempts at smiling they made, it was impossible. their face stayed firmly straight without even a twitch. frightened, they went looking for help, stumbling upon the owners of the carnival who were not helpful at all. they couldn't possibly go home, couldn't possibly face their mother like this. and then they heard it. voices calling out this way and that.
being a young child, they didn't think better of wandering off to follow the voices, of wandering into places they didn't belong. after some wandering, they found themselves within the feywild, though they had no name for the strange place they were looking at. fearful, they tried to backtrack to find their way back to the carnival but found themselves at a loss when they merely circled back to the place they'd started from.
they sit there on the ground, knees pulled to chest for what feels like ages until they hear a noise that sends them running only for them to run into a pair of fairies. the fairies look down at this child and immediately decide to take them in, to protect them from the more gruesome parts of the wilds. as much as haze wants to leave, wants to get back to their mother who will be worried sick by their absence, they decide sticking with these fairies is the better idea than risking whatever had been in the woods.
and that's how things go for a few years. thankfully, his mother had warned them of the fae, had given them a few tips on how to handle them. the two looking after them had taken to calling them 'haze' simply because they refused to ever give up their name ( the first rule their mother had ever taught them ). as the years passed, their real identity was lost to them, their real name slipping from their mind the longer they spent in this place. haze became their identity and they were okay with it. their new fairy parental figures always tried to give them a good life, always wanted to make them feel better about their fate. they always took their no smiling as something that was due to the circumstances they found themselves in but haze themselves knew that the carnival had taken it somehow. it haunted them for a while, but after a few years, they found themselves not worrying about it so much, deciding that this was simply their fate.
after a few years, however, they realized they didn't want to stay within the feywild. they wanted to leave, wanted to get back to the material plane, back to their mother who they could only remember faintly. it was while they were looking for a way to do so that a new fairy they had never seen before appeared. she introduced herself as zybilna and offered a way to get home, to get free. skeptical, haze asked for further clarification, asked for what she got out of things. she simply told them that they would have a partnership and that she would call upon them when needed but that they would have great power bestowed upon them for doing so. feeling like there was no other option, they agreed.
granting them powers, zybilna helped to open a way for them to get home, telling them to walk along a path straight forward and to not stray from it lest they end up trapped again. not wanting to risk being trapped any longer, they give a small thanks and take off down the path set before them. they aren't sure when things change from the feywild to the woods of the material plane again but soon enough they can hear carts moving along a road pulled by horses trotting along. they make their way towards the road and find themselves on the edge of a small town. they find their way there, nothing more than a young teen looking to try and find their way home.
they discover where they have ended up and seek out help to try and find their way back to their hometown, wanting to get back to their mother who would likely have gone crazy looking for them the past few years. it takes some time for them to earn some money doing a few odd jobs for people around town before they're able to get someone to agree to bring them to the town they hail from.
it takes some travel time, but eventually they arrive. they make their way through streets once familiar to them to a home that sits upon a hill. but when they approach, they find a family that does not belong to them living within. they try to ask about their mother, try to describe her, but it's been so long the details are lost to them. they can't even recall her name. they excuse themselves, apologize for bothering the people, and leave as quickly as they arrived.
lost and unsure what to do now, haze finds themselves once more unsure of what to do, of where to go. but as they rest along the rode beneath a tree, zybilna's voice rings in their ear as if she were sitting beside them. they could easily make a name for themself, easily move forward and make a life with their new skills. and so they decide that they will do just that as they learn to once more live within the material plane. they do odd jobs, join up with adventuring parties to help out, do anything they can with their new powers to earn money and make a small name for themself. something that many find odd, however, is that no matter the occasion, haze never smiles. they soon become 'the smile-less one', a nickname they just shrug off. they aren't sure why they don't smile, aren't entirely sure what makes it so hard for them to do so even in situations where it calls for such.
one morning, after being greeted by their nickname, that they feel this sharp pang in their chest of loss. they feel as though the loss of their smile needs to be remedied, needs to be corrected. and it's then they remember the carnival, feel the need to revisit and reclaim what was once taken from them. and so they set out on a hunt of figuring out where the carnival will next be. they ask for guidance from zybilna, ask for help in locating the carnival. but there is no response. unlike the usual quickness of a response they get, there is nothing but silence in return.
it's been a year now and not only have they not heard from her, but they haven't felt her presence either. on top of finding the carnival to find what once was lost, they also wish to find a way to the feywilds once more to find her, to check in and see what's happening and figure out why she's lost to them.
name. anisolis targana
nickname. ani
age. 32
gender. female ( she/her )
orientation. panromantic pansexual
race. mephistopheles tiefling
hair. strawberry blonde
eyes. golden
height. 5'9"
class. college of lore bard
proficient in. acrobatics, investigation, insight, perception, deception, intimidation
expert in. performance, persuasion
languages. common, infernal
anisolis spent her early years watching her parents perform on the streets to earn coin for their little family. her father was a musician and her mother was a dancer. together they would put on little shows for those passing by and they rose in popularity rather quickly due to it all. they became a regular street show, one that people looked forward to seeing every day as they passed through the city streets on their way to do whatever it was their days held. it was because of all this that anisolis herself wanted to learn how to play an instrument and join in on their shows.
just like her father, she had a natural talent for music. of all the instruments to choose, she chooses the lyre, finding it the prettiest sounding to her ears. once she had a steady hand with it, she joined in with her father, playing for the crowds while her mother danced. every now and then she'd take a break from the playing to join her mother in a dance. it earned more coin for them all once she joined in, the audience feeling for the family with such a young child.
as she grew older, she continued to work with her parents until she decided to strike out on her own. with her lyre and a voice as pretty as a bird ( something many had told her as she was growing up ), she found herself gathering crowds just as large as her parents. not only that, she began performing in the elf song tavern as well as on the street, earning her twice the income. often times she would give her parents a portion of what she had earned as a thank you for all the years they'd worked so hard to take care of her ( even though they never expected it of her ).
that was how she spent her days until she was abducted by the mind flayers and had the worm stuffed into her brain. now she is trying to live, trying to find a way to get rid of the parasite without dying. she can only hope that something can be found.
as a half-elf, saelihn doesn't really belong in either society. she's not human enough to be at peace within human culture and she's not elf enough for them to truly accept her. her mother abandoned them when she was young, deciding that it was far too much to be a human with an elf partner. because of this, her father tries to help her mingle in with elf society, tries to help her feel at peace with that side of her heritage. but there's only so much that he can do.
many of her childhood years were spent dealing with people looking down their noses at her, looking at her as if she didn't belong. and maybe they were right. maybe she didn't belong. but she was there and they needed to get used to it at least until she was old enough to leave.
the moment she first decided to learn magic, her father encouraged her. said that he would back her every step of the way. she spent hours within his study, learning everything she could from books he'd collected over his long years of life. when his study no longer held anything new, she moved on to finding other ways of securing knowledge. it was with that goal that she decided to march on to become a cloistered scholar.
it was within the cloister that she joined that she found a home. she discovered that it truly didn't matter what your background was like. if you had a love of learning, had a love for knowledge, you would find a home there and it would grant you opportunities that would last a lifetime.
name. felwen mossheart
nickname. fel
age. 35
gender. male ( he/him )
orientation. panromantic asexual
race. firbolg
hair. purple
eyes. gray
height. 7'4"
class. druid ( circle of the shepherd )
proficient in. animal handling, arcana, history, nature, perception
languages. common, druidic, elvish, sylvan
felwen often kept to himself growing up. he stems from a family of druids, ones that often helped those in the area around them with their fields and with their animals. though he spent most of his childhood doing this, he found himself wanting more in his adult years.
as soon as he was able, he packed a bag and bid farewell to his family, deciding that he wanted to travel the world and learn more about well, everything. from other types of magics to how sewers work, he found himself enthralled with every new book that he picked up. trading his talents for access to books became his daily life and each new town he found himself helping them in an exchange of sorts.
even though he's traveled far and wide, he yearns for more knowledge. he wants to know how things tick, wants to know how the puzzles piece themself together. if you're ever in need of a healing spell or someone to talk to your plants: he's your man. if only to get access to your library afterwards.
name. drusk allokar
nickname. n/a
age. 30
gender. male ( he/him )
orientation. biromantic bisexual
race. half-orc
hair. dark brown
eyes. golden
height. 7'2"
class. oath of redemption paladin ( worships ilmater )
proficient in. athletics, insight, intimidation, medicine, persuasion
languages. common, orc
drusk was a child of an orc father and a human mother. when she found out she was pregnant she was not surprised but she was worried. thankfully, the birth went okay but she was on bedrest for a while afterwards.
he grew up relatively normal. despite having orc-ish features he was never treated differently by his mother. but others always treated him differently. the bullying started shortly after he started wandering out into the town they lived in to make friends.
eventually the bullying started to worry his mother and she moved them to a little cabin on the outskirts of town instead of living in the midst of it. that way they could still get what they needed but he wouldn't have to deal with people. of course, this also isolated him but he was content. all he needed was his mother anyway.
things were fine for a few years. but the older drusk became, the harder it seemed to be to ignore the injustices sent towards his mother for having him as a son. he didn't care about anything to do with him, but his mama? oh you do not touch her, even with your words.
that's when the orc side started to get louder. his anger often got the better of him and he would growl or glare at those that even dared look at him wrong. his mother was the sweetest soul on the planet, how could they treat her like that?
things seemed to be okay until one night drusk woke to the smell of smoke.
the house was set on fire. the smoke was heavy and the flames were high. he couldn't get out of his room through the door but managed to break his way out through his window. but as he went around to get back inside to get to his mother, the house collapsed with the woman inside.
it was that night drusk lost the one family member he had, but also the night he let his orc nature really take hold.
he found the ones responsible and he let himself go. every ounce of rage he'd felt for years spilled out and he slaughtered the men that had taken the life of his mother. the only thing that stopped him from slaughtering the whole town was a child that he saw cowering in the corner with his mother protecting him. the woman shouted things at him but all he could see was himself as the child and his mother as the woman.
he ran that night. he ran back to the house he'd lived in for so long, found himself on his knees screaming. he'd undid the years of work his mother had put in of trying to get them to understand that he wasn't a beast like his father. and he'd just proved them all right.
it's there, under the moonlight as he cries, face pressed to the ground and fingers digging into the earth, that he makes a plea, that he makes an oath. that he won't kill another unless he has to, that he won't use violence unless there is no other path to take. that he will prove to everyone, including his mother, that he was more than the orc genes that made up half his dna.
that was the night he set out on his path to become a paladin.
name. belmeia grimheart
nickname. bel or meia
age. 26
gender. female (she/her)
orientation. biromantic bisexual
race. tiefling
hair. dark blue
eyes. white
height. 5'8"
class. grave cleric ( worships hados )
proficient in. insight, persuasion, survival
languages. common, infernal
growing up, belmeia lived in the quistine with her parents. her mother was a priestess in a temple that worshiped hados, god of death, winter, and judgement while her father worked as an attendant. naturally, she was always very curious about hados and his domain. she would spend hours with her mother, listening to the way the woman would talk about him, how she would pray to him. eventually, she joined in and did the same, praying with everything she had towards hados, speaking to him more as a friend than a deity. she always asked him to look out for her parents, for the people in the small village she lived in. while death was not something to be feared, a teaching of the church and one she took to heart, she feared that the deaths of those she knew would be not taken care of properly on the other side of the veil. even at a young age, she wanted to make sure that didn’t happen. she spent most of her childhood following the teachings of the church, praying whenever she could, wanting to make sure her voice was heard even if she didn’t get a response.
however, when she hit her early teen years, she started getting dreams. most weren’t decipherable, were blurry and there wasn’t much to take from them other than some sense of warmth and belonging. but the older she got, the more the dreams became clear to her. each one showed her a path to take, one that would lead her to doing something good for all of panaver. but she wasn’t sure what exactly she would do on such an adventure. while thinking about what she was going to do, she continued to stay near the temple and made sure to pray with her mother.
one day, while she was around the temple with her mother, her father came stumbling out of the woods nearby, bearing a gaping wound in his chest. he was barely hanging on as he collapsed to his knees at the edge of the forest and both belmeia and her mother ran towards him to assess the damage. while he lay there dying, she didn’t know what else to do besides ask hados for help. she rested her hands on him, head bowed as she uttered a prayer up to hados, asking him to help her father to make it through and survive despite the direness of such a wound. it was then that she was surrounded in a light, a warmth flowing from her hands and into her father’s body. the wound that had just been killing him began to close, the light concentrated around it. only once it was closed did the light fade away. both her mother and father looked at her in awe and she simply stared at her hands, confused. her mother told her then she’d been touched by hados himself.
that night she prayed and tried to get in contact with hados himself. It was successful, the god showing himself to her and explaining that only those of true faith could gain the powers to help others as she’d done that day with her father. from that day forth, she experimented with her new powers, trying to figure out exactly what she could and couldn't do. eventually, the dreams that she had been having showed her a place to go, a city and an inn that she needed to make her way to. saying goodbye to her family, she made her way towards the city, knowing that if her god was leading here there, it was for the betterment of those around her.
