Commander Lara Rayheart
In the city of Divinity’s Reach on the 75th day of the season of the Phoenix, 1295 A.E., Lara Rayheart was born. Her mother, Maria, worked at a local inn, and her father, Micah, was a bodyguard for hire. The three lived all together for a short time, until Lara’s younger sister, Arianna, was born, and they increased to a family of 4. In the following year, Maria became pregnant with her third child. Micah, in preparation for the 5th member of the family, began to take more jobs. He discovered a group of caravans in need of an escort to Lion’s Arch, who were offering to pay much. He took the job, and said farewell to his family, promising to return home soon. That was the last day Lara ever saw her father.
With her younger brother, Jonah, born, and her father missing, life became more hectic. Lara and her siblings often went to work with their mother, who brought them with as a way to be with them while still providing for her family. The road was bumpy and there were small issues that came up, but life was fine. Lara grew closer to her mother, who taught her nearly everything she knew. But this only served to make things harder when it was discovered that Maria had an incurable disease that would slowly kill her. She became weaker each day, until finally she called her children into her room to tell them how much she loved them. Lara knew what this meant, and when her siblings left to go play, she told her mother that she didn’t want this to be the last time she saw her. And so she laid down and the two cuddled together, Maria holding her daughter tightly, until her grip released and her arms became lifeless.
During the funeral, Lara did all she could to comfort her siblings, with little regard for her own feelings. She still felt lucky; despite being orphaned, she still had a place to live. Andrew, who owned the in her mother worked at, invited the siblings to live stay at his inn with his young daughter, Petra. They lived there for around a year, until Jonah ran off. Torn apart from the death of his mother, he decided to find his missing father whom he’d never met, but went missing just as Micah did. Lara felt that she was to blame, as she was the older sister and should have supported her siblings more. So she tried to grow up fast, and be a maternal figure to her little sister.
Life went on. Lara worked at the inn through her teenage years, hoping to help Andrew in return for him letting her and her sister live there. Soon after becoming an adult, Arianna got married and gave birth to Lara’s niece. And Lara even found love. She had been dating Samuel for a year when her niece was born, and 2 years later he finally proposed. On her wedding day, she was the happiest she’d been in years, until it came time for the ceremony. He was late. He was really late. He...
Never came. Yet again, someone she cared for was just gone, with no trace. She’d finally felt like she could move on and be happy, and it just came back to bite her. She couldn’t handle it. She became more closed off, to the dismay of her sister. Arianna tried to help Lara however she could, suggesting ways to bring her spirits up. That’s when the suggestion to learn to fight came up. Lara decided to try. Remembering her mother’s love of magic, she sought a teacher. She came upon an older woman, who was a very powerful Mesmer. The old woman taught Lara the basics, and helped her learn the art of illusion.
It was the anniversary of Maria’s death. As she did every year, Lara went out to the town of Shaemoor, the town where her mother lived before marrying Micah. The town where her body was buried. When Lara reaches her mother’s grave, she sat beside it, and began to talk about her life: the day to day things, how much her niece had grown, how work was, the usual. But this trip wasn’t usual. In the distance, Lara heard a loud battle begin, and looked over to see soldiers running to the Shaemoor Garrison, and so she got up and ran to the village. She saw that centaurs had made it past the garrison, and the Seraph were spread thin trying protect the people. She knew she could help; she’d been learning how to fight and these people needed support. And as she heard a man shouting to head for the inn, she ran over herself, and asked what she could do.
She could never have imagined how that choice would change the direction of her life.