New Character Submission- Alatriel

[Alatriel]

Name: Alatriel
Age: approximately 110-114
Class: Rogue
Race: Wild Elf
Gender: Female
Alignment: Chaotic Good

Appearance: Medium brown hair, tan skin. Average height and build for her race. Green eyes. A green Elven tatoo on her left wrist.

Bio:

I was born sometime before the beginning of the third age. I have very few memories of my youngest years. I remember vaguely the faces of my parents, just images really. I remember that we never stayed in one place long. I know there must've been a reason they told me to hide in the woods one day. They had a look of fear on their face. They told me to stay quiet, stay hidden. They said they would come back for me, but I never saw them again. After what seemed like an eternity I ventured out, but I didn't find much. I was afraid to leave the shelter and cover of the woods. I looked for them for days at the edges of the forest and inward, but I only found myself becoming more and more lost.

Thankfully, I was found by a young half-elf ranger, who took pity on me and raised me as his own. He told me when I was older that he had had a daughter once, but she had become ill and died very young. When he found me, he felt that it was a second chance. He and I traveled from place to place, but he was always much more comfortable being outside of society, and I don't know if it was for his benefit or mine. I never really felt like I fit in with the masses of people that seemed to stack upon top of each other in the crowded cities. I think he probably sensed my discomfort, and had no problem obliging me by making our trips to the cities short and perfunctory. With the war and darkness rising and tensions and hardships mounting, it seemed more and more sensible for us to keep to ourselves as the time went on.

Looking back now I know he must've known what happened to my parents; I'm sure he probably tracked them or at least had an idea of what happened to my tribe, but it was only too late by the time I ever thought to ask him. He was a good man, though being half-human, he aged all too quickly. He taught me the things I needed to survive though: resourcefulness, quick thinking, self-reliance, and the need to do whatever it takes to get what I need. He always told me that I should never take more than I need though, but he showed me by example that it was also my duty to help others if it was in my power.

After he passed on, I traveled to the city to see what I could do for myself on my own. It was never my favorite place to be, but, being without my only real father-figure, I suddenly felt much more vulnerable and unsure. Rather than letting the new uncertainties cripple me, I decided to embrace my new solitude, and found new talents that I had that came quite naturally. Not having any money or real contacts in the city, I learned quickly that I would have to sometimes steal to survive. Apparently I was quite good at it, and the few times I was caught, I found it somewhat amusing how easily it could be to weasel my way out of trouble, or at least distract them long enough to slip away.

I always tried to spend most of my time on the outskirts of the city, and only venture in when absolutely possible. Even then I always preferred to stay unnoticed as much as possible. I learned that when I was unnoticed by others, it was amazing what I could learn from people simply because they didn't realize anyone was paying attention. I've always been light-footed, but I found that it was also quite useful when attempting to stay out of the limelight and out of trouble.

I would still retreat to the woods and plains as often as I could. Traveling from city to city also offered me plenty of time to be free and away from the noise and crowds, but since I was never an expert hunter, I always found myself needing to head back to the city to find supplies by one means or another.

I was amazed at how many others there were that were living on the streets, though, and hadn't had the training to find shelter wherever they were. Sadly, there were many children, unloved and unnoticed by so many passers by, that were starving simply because no one would help them. I found myself compelled to help them out whenever I could, whether it was to "borrow" a loaf of bread, or let some of the more wealthy people that passed by help them out- even if they weren't aware of it.

All I have left of my ancestry is a tattoo on my wrist that I've had as long as I can remember. I'm not sure exactly what it means, but I do wish to find out. It may let me know what happened to my family so many years ago, or possibly find out if any of them are left. I am anxious to start on my new quest- a quest to find out who I am and where I come from. I am prepared to do what it takes no matter what, but I am filled with anticipation and excitement at the adventures to come.

[darkstorme]

Hi there!

This is an excellent piece of writing, and a great first submission. I just have one thing required of you, and a couple of additional clarifications I'd like to see.

The requirement is that you specify that her parents, as far as you, the player are aware, were no one special. If you wish to leave the door open for GMs to change your ancestry in the future, indicate that you have no particular plans for them, and leave it at that. If you'd prefer to nail it down, simply make it known that Alatriel is from humble beginnings; that her parents were not of noble, royal, or semi-deific blood - basically, that she has no hidden inheritance awaiting her somewhere, be it title, treasure, or throne. This became a requirement of submissions some time ago, to prevent the lands from overflowing with lost scions of the Lost Kingdom, and suchlike. This statement can be OOC (that is to say, it can be separate from the biography - and, given that the biography is written in first-person, probably should be), but is a requirement.

Two little things I'd like to see clarified (though the lack of this clarification won't hold this submission back from approval) - about what age was she abandoned? Assuming she first entered a city while immature (say 100 or so, the elven equivalent to a 16-17 year old), she might have spent 50 years with the human ranger, at which point he would easily have reached his dotage and died.. so she would have been fifty when abandoned. Is this about right? If so, not remembering her parents' names/faces becomes a bit sketchy.

The other question is where all this took place? Presumably, since a human found her, she was off Voltrex - so was she on Mistone? Alindor? Either would easily make a good setting, but it might be good for you to know, if Alatriel is asked the question by her traveling companions.

Once you've posted your statement (and the clarifications, if you wish), your submission will be reviewed again by a character approver.

Thanks!

[Alatriel]

Alatriel's parents were just wild elves part of a tribe. No one special, but I also have no plans for them really. They're only special to Alatriel. As far as her abandonment, I was putting it in my timeline at around age 10ish then about 50 or so years with the Ranger (I put him around 20-22 when he found her and I have my own semi-history of him in my head, but it's not written out yet) so my guess would be the first part with him taking care of her, and the last part with her taking care of him while he was aging and dying. Then for the last 50 or so years travelling around by herself, pretty much just living off what she can, and learning where she can. Since she was always pretty solitary to begin with I don't think it should be a problem, it's just that now she's realizing that she's going to need to be around others to get things accomplished, and 50 years on your own is long enough. I have no problems adjusting age or other details to fit or make sense. As far as her not remembering her parents very well- names, etc, it's for a couple of reasons: I don't know their names yet, and I think it gives her a good drive and underlying purpose, and even though she may have been as old as 10 or so when she was abandoned, it was a traumatic memory, that has made remembering other details difficult. I'm sure their in there somewhere, but since I, the player, haven't come up with them yet, their repressed in the character's memory.

As far as I think at this point she is and has been on Mistone.

Thanks and I hope that helps!

[darkstorme]

*grimaces*

As always, it seems, asking a question has fostered a few more.

Elves (at least in Layonara) develop very slowly. So to be abandoned at 10, she'd be the developmental equivalent of a human toddler, not even two years old.

Spending fifty years with a human ranger would bring her to the equivalent of nine, nearly ten years old - but even a precocious youngster would have trouble, at that age, caring for a much larger aging companion. The long and the short of it is that any human raising an elf would be in their dotage long before the elf reaches any level of maturity - unless the elf is already several decades old.

A forty-year-old elf is developmentally six - and if you plan on making her separation from her parents a traumatic one, you could still conceivably erase most memories from her that way - perhaps leaving her injured for the ranger to find?

The other option, of course, is to make the ranger half-elven. That more than doubles his expected lifespan, and would allow her to reach, say, the equivalent of 12 before he started needing her help, and 14-15 before he passes away. Then she'd still have nearly twenty years on her own before maturity, and it would all be more realistic.

Whichever you choose (rebalancing her age, changing the ranger), let us know, and we'll help you work it into your character, and get you into game ASAP.

Thanks!

[Alatriel]

Thanks! I was having the same difficulty in that I wasn't sure how quickly an elf would age to a "mature" appearance, so that makes things a lot better. I'll go ahead and just change the ranger to a half-elf. That I think is the simplest solution. Thanks so much for the suggestion!
~A

Originally Posted by darkstorme

*grimaces*

As always, it seems, asking a question has fostered a few more.

Elves (at least in Layonara) develop very slowly. So to be abandoned at 10, she'd be the developmental equivalent of a human toddler, not even two years old.

Spending fifty years with a human ranger would bring her to the equivalent of nine, nearly ten years old - but even a precocious youngster would have trouble, at that age, caring for a much larger aging companion. The long and the short of it is that any human raising an elf would be in their dotage long before the elf reaches any level of maturity - unless the elf is already several decades old.

A forty-year-old elf is developmentally six - and if you plan on making her separation from her parents a traumatic one, you could still conceivably erase most memories from her that way - perhaps leaving her injured for the ranger to find?

The other option, of course, is to make the ranger half-elven. That more than doubles his expected lifespan, and would allow her to reach, say, the equivalent of 12 before he started needing her help, and 14-15 before he passes away. Then she'd still have nearly twenty years on her own before maturity, and it would all be more realistic.

Whichever you choose (rebalancing her age, changing the ranger), let us know, and we'll help you work it into your character, and get you into game ASAP.

Thanks!

[darkstorme]

*nods* An excellent submission, and thank you for your patience in making changes to better fit the character.

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.

Bear in mind your physical description when creating your character - bear in mind also that your character must have an intelligence (after creation) of at least 9 to be able to speak proper Common or Elven, and anything less than a 10 would result in very simple speech.

Good luck!