Reyna Sun-Badger's Empowerment into the Path of the Sacred Fist

[Riven]

First entry: the Bio
Second and further entries: journaling of her adventures and studies

Name: Reyna Sun-Badger
Age: 30
Class: Cleric 10-14 levels, Sacred Fist 6-10 levels
Race: Brownie
Alignment: NG
Deity: Prunilla
Domains: Plant, Earth

Biography and Description:
Rebellious and strong-willed as a child, the hot-tempered Reyna was quick to defend herself and the younger children from bullies and beasts, generally with fists and feet. As a teen, she was outraged at the challenges the brownies faced in maintaining safe havens against the dangers of less peaceful races. Nurtured by the worship and culture of Prunilla, yet emboldened by her own fearlessness and stubbornness, Reyna seeks to become a defender of her people, empowered by the divine might of Prunilla. She seeks to strengthen her abilities as a guardian so she can ensure that the safe havens for the brownies can remain safe havens. Unlike her brethren, she realizes that to find new safe havens and learn how to combat evil, she’ll need to travel and ally with explorers, adventurers, and warriors - for their protection and knowledge of the world and threats.

Reyna grew up in a secluded enclave on the outskirts of the Forest of Fog, not far from Castle Mask. Initially, Her family did not support her mission, wishing for her to stay in the enclave and devote herself to gardening and family. However, her stubborn nature could not be tamed by their wishes. During a fight with her parents one night, in a fit of rage she swore to do away with her family name forever, devote herself to Prunilla, and take on the surname of Sun-Badger - symbolic to her of the type of tenacity and divine empowerment she imagined she needed to channel and become to fulfill her mission. She packed and left for Castle Mask - a place she had visited many times to deepen her prayers and training in the chapel to Prunilla and speak with and learn from the halflings tending the Mask Gardens. In the years since then her family has begrudgingly accepted her mission, though still worried for her safety.

Reyna sees herself as a protector of all that is valued by Prunilla - safe haven of homes and families, gardens, and the growing of food. Although she does not conform to the principles of humility and passivity, she values these in her family and tribe and seeks to empower herself so that her peaceful tribe can remain peacefully safe. At times she rests from her travels by joining with her tribe in the planting and harvesting and preparing feasts.

[Riven]

Dev Journal 2: Farming and Training at Castle Mask

This is joy. The many hours planting, weeding, watering, and caring for the herbs, vegetables, and berry bushes with her halfling friends at Castle Mask. All anxiety and worries about the dangers of the world vanished temporarily through her bare feet in the dirt, and the sweet caring of the tender sprouts and growing plants.

Reyna signed, wiping a few stray tears from her eyes. “If only…..if only this could be my life. The simplicity, the sweetness….growing the tender sprouts into fruition, partnership and growing babes with my family into the kind beings that would nurture and provide for the family and clan. If only this could be my life. But I have made my choice, the choiceless choice, and can have nor regrets now. Regret is weakness, and Prunilla is my guide and strength now”

She soothed her anxiety by burying her hands in the weeds and pulling them, roots and all, from the recently moistened soil. “Not for me, this life of farming and crafting and sweet hugs and kisses. Not for me, other than to rejuvenate my spirit, other than to soothe the stress and strain of my path. I can return now and then and forget about the worries of the world, and the tough, sweaty, and bloody training that shapes my will and body. I can return to the peaceful enclave of my clan, or Castle Mask, and rest between arduous endeavors.” She sighed, again, accepting the seeping of more tears. Grief is part of the cycle of life. To be embraced. And she’d made her decision months ago, after a torturous few years of trying to fit in with her clan’s expectations. She nodded then, took a deep breath, and picked up the basket of turnips and parsnips. “Prunilla made the choice, not I. I surrendered. And that is as it should be. As hard as it is, I am proud to be a Sapling of Prunilla.”

Head high, eyes sad but determined, she walked past the door guards, with a nod to her friend Palty, and made her way past her clerical mentors Vaeran and Gine in the temple, to deliver the roots to Kasko, the head cook.

Her friendship with Kasko had grown the more she helped with the growing of vegetables, and the preparing of meals in the kitchen. Early on he had said, “Well, if you want to be a defender of your people, little Reyna,” Kasko said, “you’ll have to grow taller and learn how to use more than a hoe and a kitchen knife!” Taller was not an option! But she had befriended some of the guards of the keep and for the last few months trained for a few hours a day with them, and joined them on their patrols in the nearby areas around Castle Mask. Their weaponry felt clumsy in her hands, but she found that a simple small vine-cutting sickle seemed easy enough to practice with.

Why this tough path for her? The brownie clans too often were encroached and preyed upon. Uprooted, they would leave their homes and gardens to find another hidden grove, and replant, rebuild. For such a peaceful people, this violent uprooting was a scourge and cause of deep pain and loss. For Prunilla, she felt she had to aid her people in a more…martial way, than farming and raising children. Thus, she moved to Castle Mask several months ago to learn more about the ways of the world, of warfare, and of course, of the blessings and powers of Prunilla.

Her motto has become, “Every day, in every way, I am becoming better and better, more and more capable, and more able to be an effective defender of my people.”

[Riven]

Dev Journal 3: Training with Paprika Hedghog-Mane

During the first few grueling weeks of martial training at Castle Mask, she kept hearing rumors about an odd halfling named Pap who wore heavy armor, but chose to fight with only the gauntlets upon his hands and his wide boot-clad feet. Not long after, Pap returned to the castle with tales of scouting the Forest of Fog, and clearing some regions of giants. It was unbelievable, of course, that the fisticuffs of a halfling could trounce a huge creature. Yet here he was, clothing disheveled, armor slightly dented, a mass of curly tousled hair, dirty and tangled from weeks in the wilds, and grinning ear-to-ear. He seemed to bring a giant’s appetite.

Reyna bonded swiftly with Pap, otherwise known as Paprika Hedgehog-Mane. She brought him all manner of foods and drinks until he warmed to her and obliged her curiosity with tales of beasts, monsters, strange lands, and the customs of other peoples.

“But why fight with only fists and feet, Pap?” She asked, between mouthfuls of blueberry cinnamon muffins and ginger raspberry juice. “Would not a blade or mace be more effective?”

Pap closed his eyes, savoring the flavors of his first dessert of the day. After a long pause, he opened his green eyes, and with a quirky smile said, “Weapons can break, weapons can be disarmed, you can be captured and held prisoner, those are only some of the ways you may need to defend yourself and your kin with simply your hands and feet and wits. Prunilla blessed me with this body - fists, feet, and all! With training and diligence, my body becomes a finer weapon than the best steel you can forge!” He then demonstrated, to the incredulous Reyna, the power of his punches on a combat dummy, and how they far surpassed the feeble swings of her sickle.

“Can you teach me?” she asked? “Maybe,” he mused, “it takes a strong will and a resilient body! But if you have the discipline and determination to sharpen the body into a weapon, then I may be able to teach you. For now, train with both sickle and fist, until you are quicker and more precise with your fist than with your sickle. Train for a week, then journey with me or on your own in the world to test your mettle against the dangers that lurk. Then return for more training. You’ll soon learn what your capabilities are!”

And so she did. Between training weeks with Pap and with the priestesses of Prunilla, she was sent to Center, to test herself in the lands around Center, and to learn from Honey, the Lucky Clover of Prunilla. Honey knew much of the lands and wilderness around Center. Informed with knowledge, and the kind and wise counsel of Honey, and after binding her spirit to Prunilla's Bindstone in the shrine there in Center, Reyna explored north and south, and in all directions….cautiously exploring and testing herself against the dangers she discovered. And making friends along the way. But those allies and alliances are for another day’s tale.