New Character Submission - Ellena Ste'fesser

[Lydyn]

Character: Ellena Ste'fesser
Age: 115
Gender: Female
Classes: Fighter/Ranger
Race: Elf
Alignment: Lawful Good



Biography:

Description (Added for flavor): A soft and majestic-looking elven woman stands before you. Her hair is slightly curly with a certain fullness to it, holding a heavenly blond color to it. Her eyes are hazed over with a forest green and her form seems built, though embedded into her figure with great grace.

Her skin is slightly sun-kissed, hinting at an ancestry of her elven-kin, though it has a subtle shine to it's surface. On her left forearm, when seen, is a wind-shaped scar that seems have have been masterfully burned into her flesh.



- - - - -

A small dwelling made within the Silkwood, near Lake Ravine is slowly illuminated by the rising sun to the east. A small blue jay chirps as it lands on a slender, sun-kissed finger. The young elven woman smiles as she takes her other hand to gently stroke the bird's feathers.

"She likes you ..." comes a voice from the small dwelling. An old man gives a warm smile as he uses a gnaled staff to help him exit into the beautiful forest. His features are worn by age, but the obvious elven heritage has likely kept him alive far longer than of his human cousins. She looks to the old man and returns the familiar smile, letting the small bird take flight as she turns and bows respectfully and with grace of the elven people.

"Good morning sir Kerth." He chuckles and waves his hand, motioning her to stand straight once again and walking beside her. He pats her shoulder and sits down on the log and let's out a long-winded sigh in silence, as often the wise do. She sits beside him, displaying a patience as well as her eyes take in the morning light of the forest.

"I am not long for this world ..." he says softly. Ellena looks over with a saddened expression and looking down with a subtle nod. A tear rolls down her cheek.

- - - - -

A much younger Kerth paces back and forth as she seems to recite a code of sorts, the young Ellena having difficulty listening and training her blade against the dummy at the same time, though she seems to be doing well enough.

"Prowess," he begins his long winded speech, "To seek excellence in all endeavors expected of a knight, martial and otherwise, seeking strength to be used in the service of justice, rather than in personal aggrandizement.

Justice: Seek always the path of 'right', unencumbered by bias or personal interest. Recognize that the sword of justice can be a terrible thing, so it must be tempered by humanity and mercy. If the 'right' you see rings agrees with others, and you seek it out without bending to the temptation for expediency, then you will earn renown beyond measure.

Loyalty: Be known for unwavering commitment to the people and ideals you choose to live by. There are many places where compromise is expected; loyalty is not amongst them.

Defense: The ideal knight was sworn by oath to defend his liege lord and those who depended upon him. Seek always to defend your nation, your family, and those to whom you believe worthy of loyalty.

Courage: Being a knight often means choosing the more difficult path, the personally expensive one. Be prepared to make personal sacrifices in service of the precepts and people you value. At the same time, a knight should seek wisdom to see that stupidity and courage are cousins. Courage also means taking the side of truth in all matters, rather than seeking the expedient lie. Seek the truth whenever possible, but remember to temper justice with mercy, or the pure truth can bring grief.

Faith: A knight must have faith in his beliefs, for faith roots him and gives hope against the despair that mortal failings create.

Humility: Value first the contributions of others; do not boast of your own accomplishments, let others do this for you. Tell the deeds of others before your own, according them the renown rightfully earned through virtuous deeds. In this way the office of knighthood is well done and glorified, helping not only the gentle spoken of but also all who call themselves knights.

Largesse: Be generous in so far as your resources allow; largesse used in this way counters gluttony. It also makes the path of mercy easier to discern when a difficult decision of justice is required.

Nobility: Seek great stature of character by holding to the virtues and duties of a knight, realizing that though the ideals cannot be reached, the quality of striving towards them ennobles the spirit, growing the character from dust towards the heavens. Nobility also has the tendency to influence others, offering a compelling example of what can be done in the service of rightness.

Franchise: Seek to emulate everything I have spoken of as sincerely as possible, not for the reason of personal gain but because it is right. Do not restrict your exploration to a small world, but seek to infuse every aspect of your life with these qualities. Should you succeed in even a tiny measure then you will be well remembered for your quality and virtue."

He smiles and lays a gentle hand on the elf's arm, gesturing her to stop. She breathes heavily and smiles as she's hugged.

- - - - -

This was the life of the young Ellena. Sir Kerth is as much of a mystery as her own parents are. In the beginning, she was found on stormy night next to the man's dwelling, a small babe with a wind-shaped scar masterfully burned into her left forearm. Kerth scowled at such an act, but found it as curious as it was disheartening. Taking her in as his own child, though never did he lie to her about her birth, how she was left by her parents, and he knew nothing of it. The scar had kept to her forearm ever since.

Whether Kerth was once a knight or not, he had never said, though he often recited the code of the knights to the young Ellena. They were kept to themselves, rarely a soul came by, and when the random adventurer came by he would always say something to make them visit for only a short while and leave. Ellena never complained though, for Kerth was excellent company and a great father-figure.

As much as the man recited the code, he also showed her the ways of the ranger. To hunt, to track, to study one's enemies, but to never hate like most of the forest trackers had learned to do.

As much as the codes stuck to her, so did many quotes of the lands, the animals, and of nature. Many a time did Kerth explain that the elves had a connection to the world that rarely another would ever experience. To the lands, the places, the people. Always to trust these feelings, but never to leave them unquestioned ... for through knowledge came understanding.

That nature had it's ways, it cycle that must be kept in life and in death. To hunt only what was needed and little more. To not only be a warrior, but a protecter and a guide to others in the ways of the heart.

This had been her life, her entire life, until the fateful day that Sir Kerth passed away. On that day, she left for Hlint ... one that day, she began to walk down a road that would change her life forever ...

[Lydyn]

(I've seen on other threads someone asking that DMs need to know who the parents are, etc. Here, I want to simply state ... I don't even know who they are, which to me, is a part of the fun. I'd rather let the DMs decide, if it's alright. Along with any other unknown you see here. Besides the Race. I have envisioned her as a mixture between Sun and Wood elf, though... at a DMs digression (because I'm wishing to give freedom), this can be easily changed.

-Lydyn)

[darkstorme]

With the understanding that Ellena's parents cannot (nor will ever) be noble, royal, or deific, and that when multiclassing, you must have at least five levels in each of your classes upon reaching level 20 (as an example, the most extreme would be 5 Ranger/15 Fighter, or vice versa):

Your character has been approved.

Server address is west.layonara.com
Password is layoplayer

Some final notes on character creation:

• Please note that racial adjustments for players with subraces are skin based and thus get applied after getting in game.
• Only two ability scores can be less than 10 and only one can be less than 8 after racial adjustments
• Brownies, when selecting a head, the head you choose on the halfling selection will correspond to that numbered head for elves (for example, clicking right 6 times on the head selection during character creation will take the 6th head when clicking right on the elf creation)
• Half-giants and ogres, please ask for a GM (type /dm Anyone here?) if you would like to change to a custom skin.

Have fun - and a very well-written submission. I'm not certain what a "wind-shaped scar" is, though.

[Lydyn]

Looks something like this ... only, well, less colored and probably less detailed, though proportionate.



And yes, I completely understand.

-Lydyn

[Acacea]

As a note, you will be starting in either Port Hempstead or Fort Vehl, not Hlint, which was the starting town for a very long time.

Another note - for almost twenty years, the world was in a dark age because of the ending of the war with Bloodstone in 1402. People starved, temperatures dropped (the sun was hidden behind debris and dust in the sky), nature suffered, etc. It's was cleansed just a couple years ago, recovery in process. Have fun!

[Lydyn]

Yep, that's fine. Fits with the Bio quite well, oddly.

-Lydyn