Yelrona

Meira Yelrona

Appearance

Yelrona is a young (116 years old) and slightly built (STR 10, CON 10, 4'2", 95#) Dawn Elf.

Her skin is a warm coppery tone that almost seems to glow in the sun. Her dark brown hair hangs to her waist, usually in a tightly woven braid that she tucks into her tunic so it doesn't get in her way. Her eyes are light green, wide-set, and usually glancing around playfully, her expression usually amused and often laughing outright.

She ordinarily wears gray studded leather that is masterfully made, tight-fitted to her body and cunningly fashioned to not obstruct her movements. The metal studs provide protection without being obtrusive, designed to avoid getting caught on things. Her gear usually includes a longbow and quiver, an exceptionally well-made rapier, a snug-fitting backpack, and a variety of small pouches and pockets. Black calf-high boots and elbow-length gloves complete her adventuring garb.

When not adventuring, she also wears a variety of brightly-colored silks over her leathers, mostly greens and oranges, giving her a colorful and celebratory appearance.

She's attractive enough (CHA 14), though really it's due more her manner than her appearance... mischievous smirk and dancing eyes and an extraordinary grace (DEX 21).

Capabilities

Although not a criminal, Yelrona is trained as a thief: she can find and disarm traps, slip bonds, avoid perception, is clever with her hands, the usual sort of thing. Although not a warrior, she can be a useful asset in a fight.

She is fluent in several really obscure languages (Celestial, Goblin-Talk, Hand-Speech, Mynsandraal, Sylvan) as well as Sildanyari and Tradespeech. Ask her why and she'll tell you. (Then we'll both know.)

Current History

Since arriving in Alexandria, Yelrona has become actively involved with the Temple of Tarien, and has found herself the beneficiary of Tarien's blessing (Trickster's Aspect).

She has also started taking quiet jobs through the Explorer's Guild... gathering intelligence, obtaining or planting items, etc. rather than fighting (insofar as she can, anyway).

She has also made some acquaintances within Alexandros' underworld organizations... the Sunset, the Guild of the Sly, and so forth... though she has no formal connection to these organizations.

Past History

The Meira clan was (and still is) a classic big fish in a small pond... one of the most respected families in Yles Namvadin ("Sweet Spring," named after a freshwater spring nearby renowned for exceptionally pure water), a small elven settlement in the Mythwood.

Yelrona grew up the beneficiary of considerable respect from locals because of her lineage, though in a settlement of twenty or thirty families or so that wasn't really saying a lot. Her mother Falenas had been the Elunite priestess for nearly two centuries and known as a skilled healer and teacher. Ylena's father Avourel was a Rogue, an adventurer, and often away from the settlement. Known to few was Avourel's status as an Acquisitioner, whose many long journeys were in service of the Elunite church. He specialized in tracking down necromancers and safely retrieving or destroying necromantic artifacts.

Shortly after her birth, Yelrona's parents and several others from the Temple of Eluna took the infant on a pilgrimage to a sacred grove in the Mythwood, where Falenas prayed over her that the gods might grant her a boon, that as she grew she might exemplify the talents that she inherited from her lineage. When they returned to Yles Namvadin, Falenas was content that her prayer had been answered... and indeed it was, but not the way she'd intended. As Yelrona grew older it became clear that she was not rising up to take her mother's place in the temple... though clever and wise, she lacked the discipline for a cleric's life. Far more importantly, as she grew she came to revel in the arts of the body far more than in those of the mind or spirit. She was well-known in the settlement as exceptionally quick and light-fingered and agile, and would often entertain the adults with displays of gymnastics and prestidigitation... often when she was _supposed_ to be studying in the Temple library. Eventually her father acceded to the inevitable and began training her in stealth, quickness, and evasiveness... the tools of roguery. Her mother never did, and grew increasingly exasperated with her.

Her best friend in Yles Namvadin was an older boy, Kalniss, whose family was looked down on due to rumors of Mul'niessa Sorcerors in their lineage, and whose parents managed a Mythwood trading route and were frequently away from home for long periods. Yelrona and Kalniss spent a great deal of time together, exploring the settlement and, later, ruins around the Mythwood. She learned a great deal from him and from the friends he would sometimes introduce her to, Rogues of all races who would gather from time to time to trade stories and loot, show off skills, etc. She came to enjoy both the learning and the showing off quite a bit.

In her eighth decade, the two youths stumbled across a group of slavers operating in a Mythwood ruin. They decided to intervene, setting up traps and distracting the slavers until they could free the slaves. It worked for a while, but eventually they got caught. Eventually they were rescued by a Liberator party that included Kalniss' parents, and their injuries healed. Yelrona learned that Kalniss' father was a Tarienite Cleric, but he preferred that this not be widely known, and that his family had been rescued from Mul'niessa slavers before he was born and had later joined the Liberators. Yelrona agreed to keep all of this to herself, but she began to spend more time with them, which in turn led to conflicts with her mother... especially as she began to question some elements of the Elunite doctrine. Tensions at home only grew as her father's return from his latest adventure grew later and later.

This all got much worse on her hundredth birthday, when she was officially declared an adult and invited to declare her allegiance to a Deity in her own name, rather than as an extension of her parents. The Elunite church expected her to pledge herself to Eluna, but she didn't. Her mother was deeply hurt, and over the next decade or so Yelrona spent less and less time at home, and more and more time with the Tarienites, until finally she declared allegience to Tarien at the age of 115. This was the last straw for her mother, who refused any further contact with her. In response Yelrona left Yles Namvadin, declaring she was going to find her father, although in fact she had no idea how to even begin doing that, or even any reason to expect he's still alive after all these years.

In the year or so since then, she has learned that her father was looking for a necromantic artifact known as the Hand of Ilris, about which very little is known... at least by anyone she's talked to. She has ended up in Alexandria, figuring that it's as good a place as any and better than most to continue her search. And while she takes this seriously, she is also embracing the teachings of Tarien to seek humor and laughter and embrace the unexpected turns of fate as they arise.

Something Yelrona does not know, because nobody ever told her, is that the sacred grove whose boon she received as an infant is not an entirely unmixed blessing... there is a price to be paid, though the specific price varies. Falenas knew this, but figured there was plenty of time to take care of the problem once Yelrona had come into her maturity as a Cleric... and then her pride prevented her from bringing it up once it became clear that was never going to happen. She will warn her daughter eventually, of course, but there's no hurry, right? (Plot hook for later.)

Roleplay Hooks

• Random adventures - Rona is a Tarienite, and this is increasingly influencing her thinking. Her understanding of Tarien's nature means that when fate opens a door, she steps through it.

So she will basically go along with any crazy random harebrained scheme as long as it's not obviously suicidal or, you know, evil. So if you approach her with a "Hey, let's go do X!" she will more than likely agree.

• The search for Avourel - Feel free to have your character have some connection to Avourel's fate over the last few decades. This can be as minor as having met the guy once over coffee, or more substantial.

Don't worry about how you tie into "the actual plot", I haven't decided what that is yet anyway, and in any case I really like the idea of having this trail be weird and convoluted and nonlinear, so whatever you come up with is fine. Whatever it is, as long as she finds out you're connected she'll hound you to find out what you know. Feel free to make stuff up, as long as at the end of the day you don't close off further steps on that story... like, don't decide your character saw Avourel die or anything like that. If you're unsure, ask me first. But honestly, I like the idea of making her through-line quest subject to whatever whims y'all have. Note that Avourel's appearance (as of thirty years ago) and Yelrona's search have appeared in the Tribune, so recognizing him is easy.

• Spying and criminal activity and stuff - Rona is doing Guild jobs that involve stealth rather than combat... scouting for intel, monitoring individuals, listening in on private meetings, stealing items, planting fake evidence, that sort of thing. In the course of this she's starting to make contacts among the various criminal organizations of Alexandria as well. So if your char is at all involved in that sort of thing, we should chat!

• Acquisitioners and Liberators - If you're an Acquisitioner, or a Liberator, she wants to hear about your experiences. She isn't a member of either group (yet) but she's fond of them and knows enough from her childhood friends/family to recognize a general recognition symbol, like a sign/countersign or a secret handshake or something like that.

Logs

• Yelrona's Arrival - Yelrona arrives at the Alexandros Gates after a long journey, is greeted by two local elves, and learns disquieting news about demonic activity that just might be connected to her quest to find her father.

• Demon in the Garden! - Yelrona and Velothin are faced with a demonic foe, and they bravely run away.

• Hare we Go! - Bunnies, Bunnies, it must be bunnies!.... Or maybe ettins?

• 'The Increasingly Inaccurately Named Archives Trilogy' - A surprisingly engaging set of grid RP scenes involving Yelrona and Diemma looking things up in the Ithildinian medical journals, searching for clues to her father's whereabouts. Includes The Coming of the Bindroot! (in which Yelrona meets Diemma, a local nun who who offers to help her search the journals, while also learning about demons and invasive plant life), Approaching the Archives (in which Yelrona takes Diemma up on her offer), To the Archives! (in which Yelrona picks her first lock in Alexandros, and is caught by a priest and a temple guard, neither of whom seem to mind terribly much), and Back to the Archives (in which our heroes discuss philosophy, politics, Sith cooking habits, and the sexual predilections of gentis medica)

• Fates worse than death - Yelrona worries that perhaps the power of necromancy may have corrupted her father.

• And the Rain Crashed Down on the Roof... - Yelrona and Sorscha have an emotional argument in the pouring rain, and 'rona reveals some things about her past.

• A clue! - Sandy rescues Yelrona from a street gang and reveals a clue to the fate of Yelrona's father.

• Away, You Rolling River - Yelrona practices her tumbling, disturbs a couple of rangers at rest, learns some things about Sith-makar mating habits, and skinny-dips with Ga'Elian.

• Take me to the River - Balance practice becomes acrobatics training becomes reminiscing about parties.

• 'Gotta Catch 'Em All' - It begins with MAYHEM!!!, when the demons attack the Alexandria junkyard and the golems who make it their home away from homes. Then it gets weird, as Rona encounters a series of spontaneously organizing artifice creatures: a duck, a snake, a rabbit she pursues extensively before finally capturing, and a racoon.

Llyranesi PC Badge Family Name: Meira Role: Still figuring that out. She is young. Faith: Tarienite, though she is well acquainted with Elunite temple practices as well Politics: Yelrona is a young elf from a small llyranesi settlement in the Mythwood, whose interests have always been more athletic than scholarly, however much her priestess mother might have wished otherwise. She tries to be aware of politics the same way she pays attention to the weather, but she does not attempt to influence either... her general attitude politically is that people should try to help each other out and generally not be jerks to each other. Her best friend as a child was the son of a family scorned due to rumors of having Dark Elf blood in their heritage, and she spent much of her adolescence in the company of young thieves of all races, all of which has left her (mostly) free of the usual prejudice against Dark Elves.

Homeland PC Badge Homeland: Mythwood (specifically, Yles Namvadin, a small elven settlement of perhaps 30 families) Family History: The Meira family has been in Yles Namvadin for as long as anyone can remember, though no doubt branches of their clan exist elsewhere. Yelrona's parents were active in the Acquisitioners, though not especially significant, and her mother has been priestess of the local Temple of Eluna for centuries, as was her grandmother before her. Politics: Local politics in Yles Namvadin is decidedly small-scale, barely deserving of the name, and the settlement is mostly isolationist with respect to other races. It has no official dealings with Llyranost, Alexandros, or pretty much anywhere else. Yelrona finds this unjustifiably petty, and it is part of the reason she left.

Flaws PC Badge Flaw: Compulsive Behavior Development: Yelrona's understanding of Tarien's call in her life is such that she will not turn down opportunities life seems to be presenting her with, even if they seem dangerous or uncertain. She feels compelled to go along with the seemingly random twists and turns of fate, diving in with both feet before she's even confirmed that there's water in the pool. "Sure, why not? Let's do it!" is her watchword.