1. Characters

Arianah Trudeau

Lady of Vandekirk
Player Character

Born on Windae 30th Lateharvest, 527 UN.

Description and Backstory

Lady Arianah Trudeau (“Rin”)

Human Sorceress

Age: 22 years (Born on Windae 30th Lateharvest, 527 UN)

Hair: Black, shoulder length, straight

Eyes: Dark Green – spark with blue-white electricity when using magic

Build: 5'4", 120lbs

Attire: Noble clothes in the Trudeau family colours - Blue, green, black, gold trim

Common clothes: Dark grey tunic, black belt and boots, Mariner’s armour, dark blue-turquoise woollen cloak fastened at the shoulder, small silver and turquoise necklace

Allegiance: Good chaotic

Weapons: Daggers, rosewood shortbow

Sorcerous Origin: Storm Sorcery

Arianah has always had magic within her, which had been latent until a traumatic encounter with a demon who tried to seize control of her mind (Later discovered to be Maurezhi). The mental exertion when trying to fight off the demonic attack activated her Storm Sorcery. Arianah believes that Maurezhi “gave” her magical powers, and wants revenge.

Name: Arianah likes to go by the nickname “Rin” to family and close friends. She has never truly been comfortable with the superiority that comes with being noble and desperately wants to fit in.

Personality Traits: Arianah is sensitive and takes criticism to heart, however she will often cover this up and react with anger or by taking herself away on her own.

Conflicted Although proud of my place and responsibilities in House Trudeau, I have an insatiable wanderlust.

Independence I must prove that I can handle myself without the coddling of my family.

Bond with my people The common folk must see me as a hero of the people

Bond with Balvarax Balvarax is my loyal bodyguard.

Naivety I have limited experience of the world outside of my home town of Vandekirk

I bring shame to my family I have lost favour with my family since gaining magical powers. I believe that I was imbued with magic by a demon and intensely desire to rid myself of it.

Connection to nature I feel a deep connection to the natural world

Intelligence I was privileged with a good education in Vandekirk and took my studies seriously

 

Home: Vandekirk

A large town in the north of Middenfall in the foothills of the Barrier Mountains, and on the shore of Lake Feigrmaor. The town is one of the oldest in Theder with noble families (such as House Trudeau) tracing their lineage back to the royal families of The Old Kingdom. Part of the town is built around the ruins of an ancient keep and is highly defensible – it once had to stand against hoards of raiders from Thorne. There is still a large military encampment on the outskirts of town which is tasked with repelling bands of trolls, ogres and sometimes giants from the mountains.

 

House Trudeau

The Trudeau family is one of the ruling families in Vandekirk, with close ties to House Enderwine and the crown. The heads of House Trudeau preside over the military encampment on the outskirts of town, and are solely responsible for repelling raiders from the Barrier Mountains.

The Trudeaus are proud of their ancestry, tracing it back to the royal families of the Old Kingdom – they are always keen to remind their peers of this connection. The family values strength and military prowess, perhaps identifying more with Theder’s bloody past than its peaceful present.

Another throwback to an older time is the Trudeau family’s distaste for magic, at least in any form that is not divine. They make large donations to the church of Kord (the thunder god), but spend an equal portion of their riches campaigning to shut down the Arcane Institute and heavily regulate the use of magic.

 

Background

Rin has always had a fascination with nature, and feels most at ease outdoors. When she came of age at 21, she felt a growing sense of curiosity about life beyond the town of Vandekirk. She would secretly escape the confines of the keep, dressed in common clothes, to go and spend time among the wood elves, with whom she felt a deep connection. She sometimes dreamed that she had been born into this more simple and beautiful life, although she knew that’s all it was – a dream. She took her duties as a noble very seriously, was extremely popular and well-liked by her people, and accepted with grace and sobriety the weight of the destiny that was to be hers - to one day follow in her father’s footsteps. And yet, she felt such insatiable yearning, just for a small taste of another life – and there was surely no harm in an occasional foray into the woods, as long as she was careful not to be seen and not to reveal her true identity.

The elves, usually suspicious of outsiders, took a shine to the girl, for her intelligence and her fascination with nature. They taught her Elvish. She had a short-lived romance with a young female wood elf, Yesra, who gifted her a beautiful rosewood shortbow. Before too long, however, Yesra’s father, Rojeon, the chief Elf, found out. Disproving of such an unconventional relationship, between beings of the same gender and different races, and feeling that his hospitality towards the young human had been abused, he banished Rin immediately.

Rin was cast out into the woods in the middle of the night – alone and frightened, she encountered a hostile demon and narrowly escaped with her life. The demon first appeared as an elven woman in need of help, but when Rin approached, she felt a strange tugging at her consciousness. The demon was trying to take control of Rin’s body. Rin managed to fight off this attack with a huge amount of mental effort, to the point where she was close to falling unconscious. In her weakened state, as the demon was about to finish her off, she was rescued by a mysterious, cloaked figure, who brought her back to Vandekirk, but not without suffering some ill effects.

For several weeks, Rin was bed ridden and unwell. Her skin, once soft and fair, greyed and darkened, her hair lost its glossy black shine and became dull and lifeless. She was shaken by what appeared to be violent jolts of electricity, followed by seizures which could last hours. On the request of her father, she was visited by the greatest medics in the land, but nobody could say what was wrong.

To everyone’s relief, Lady Arianah gradually recovered of her own accord; however, she has never been quite the same since, in demeanour or appearance, and still occasionally suffers from smaller fits. Rin has little memory of the weeks following the demon attack, other than a blurry image of a dark, hooded figure, carrying her to safety. She later learned that this was Balvarax, the loyal dragonborn guard.

Storm Sorcery

Since the encounter with the demon, Rin has had a thunderous magic coursing through her which she has found very difficult to control and master; not least as she wishes bitterly that it was not there, and has not yet accepted it as a part of herself. She is equally terrified of the powers themselves, and of the possible repercussions on her life as a noble of Vandekirk.

During the days after her recovery, as she got back onto her feet and began to resume her day to day duties, Rin noticed a strange force in her fingers which seemed to repel everything she touched with a small spark. Sometimes it was barely noticeable – a light prickle, a tingling in her head or hands, or a mere feeling of instability inside. Things were not quite right, but she could cover that up. Yet, at other times, she would emit huge bolts like lightning from her hands or eyes, which could singe objects she was holding, or even throw them from her with a huge amount of force.

To her mother’s immense displeasure, Rin accidentally set alight her treasured textbook on the Nobles of the Old Kingdom when she fell asleep in a study session and was shaken awake by her tutor. The shock of being roused caused a huge surge of burning energy to erupt from Rin’s eyes, which set the book on fire, and that, unfortunately, put an end to her study of the subject. Rin’s tutor refused to teach her again, asserting that, Lady or Not, she had become an unpredictable force, and no amount of gold would persuade her to be set on fire by the Lightning Lady Arianah, thank you very much. 

Rin herself (not caring for that particular tutor very much, anyway) was more disappointed by the fact that she could no longer help out with milking the cows. This was a simple task which, although many saw as beneath her, she used to enjoy and outrageously refused to give up when she came of age. It took her away from some of the pressures of noble life, and allowed her to be amongst the simplicity and gossip of common people for a while.

She was also unable to ride her beloved horse, for fear of unleashing a jolt of electricity which might throw her off it. Most upsetting of all for Rin, however, was that her beloved twin brother Torben disowned her entirely after seeing her revive a soldier who had been brought back to the keep, severely wounded from battle. They said that his heart had stopped, but a touch from Rin managed to somehow jolt the life back into him. Rin was momentarily pleased with this achievement, wondering whether this could be a use for this horrible curse that had befallen her. However, she quickly rejected the idea when she saw the reaction of the people. As the man came back to life, coughing, a stunned silence from the surrounding crowd gave a horrible weight to the air. Lady Arianah had become strange, mysterious and mistrusted by those who used to love and respect her as a future ruler.

Following this scene, Rin’s parents insisted that she stay within the keep until they could work out the source of this magic, and find a way to cure her. She became somewhat of an embarrassment, hidden away, a prisoner of her own powers.

In her solitude, her resentment and bitterness towards the demon that had imbued her with these awful powers simmered and began to grow, until she could bear it no longer. She badly wanted to obey her parents, but her life had become meaningless, and she sensed that they were also at a loss as to what to do. Rin decided to head back to the woods, hunt down the demon, and put an end to it. After all, she was now more powerful than ever – she would destroy the demon with the powers of its own making. Perhaps if she destroyed the source of her powers, it would also rid her of them.

 

Bond with Balvarax

Balvarax – the loyal Dragonborn guard - also has a history with the demon which attacked Arianah. He had heard rumours of demonic activity in the woodlands of the Pauviel/Theder border and this is where he came across Arianah. On hearing of Arianah’s quest, insisted on joining her to help find the demon and kill it. He also feels responsible for Arianah’s life, having saved her from the demon himself.

Arianah values Balvarax’s friendship and guidance, particularly since being cast out by her family. She trusts him unquestioningly and will often ask for his advice. They have passed many hours playing Dragonchess during rests on their journey, and Balvarax has taught Arianah some basic Draconian.

As a result of recent events, Arianah is becoming ever more independent, and sometimes feels that Balvarax is over-protective, especially when she is trying to enjoy herself with the group.

Balvarax and Arianah have been travelling together for around 6 months.