Leafiara (prime)

Leafiara Autumnwind, or Leafi to her friends, born on Tilamaires the 6th, Jastatos 5092, is a half-sylvan cleric of Tilamaire and citizen of Wehnimer's Landing. Though typically cheerful, she becomes ferociously defensive if her friends or her home are at risk and will use absolutely anything at her disposal--warding magic, bolt spells, two handed weapons, [[::brawling|her own hands and feet]], [[::Invisibility_(916)|spying]] with the [[::Imbue_(614)|help]] of [[::Magic_Item_Creation_(420)|friends]], skills learned at the Order of Voln, or simply distributing information as a snooping [[::The_TownCrier|TownCrier]] reporter--to protect her loved ones.

In her spare time she is a master [[::cobbling|cobbler]], master of forging [[::Polearm_Weapons|pole arms]], has developed the greatest talent with various instruments that one can without being a bard, became a Guild Master of the Cleric Guild as nominated by Guild Masters Rohese Bayvel-Timsh'l and Mikalmas, and bakes top quality [[::Manna_(203)|manna bread]] after being inspired by Cruxophim.

Leafiara Autumwind Race [[Half-elf]] Culture [[Half-sylvan]] Profession Cleric Religion Follower of Tilamaire, Admirer of Cholen In-a-Word Energetic Disposition Adventurous, cheerful, lively Demeanor Friendly Flaw Struggling with vengeful tendencies Greatest Strength Fearlessness Greatest Weakness Impatience, recklessness Habits Ringing bells, shooting friends with her water cannon, throwing [[::Snowball_satchel|snowballs]] Hobbies Cobbling, composing, singing, snuggling, tickling Soft Spots Chocolate, sweets Loyalties Conscience Best Friend Severine Veneuve Loved One Etanah

[[Category: Half-elf player characters]] [[Category: Half-sylvan player characters]]

Appearance

You see Maiden Leafiara Autumnwind the Champion of the Fallen.

She appears to be a Half-Sylvan.

She is tall and has a slender build. She appears to be very young. She has sparkling green eyes and soft, fair skin. She has shoulder length, tousled bright red hair held back in a ponytail with a simple band. She has a well-defined, heart-shaped face and slightly pointed ears. She has ebon-marbled kelyn green lacquer brushed onto her smooth oval fingernails.

She is wearing a gold-edged fox-shaped locket, a bold red musical note-shaped locket, a white-edged red silk cape fastened with an emerald music note pin, a platinum and emerald ivy leaf, a honey beryl note symbol inset with tiny water sapphires, a crested hawk charm, a white silk tote patterned with sewing needles along a musical staff slung over her shoulder, an oilskin ice-blue satchel slung over her other shoulder, a sleeveless white silk shirt with a red leaf-printed collar, a pair of fingerless eonake-studded sylvan gloves emblazoned with leaves, a pure white silk gem pouch embroidered with a bold red musical note, a perfect maoral-handled imflass forging-hammer, a pure white silk instrument case with a bold red leaf-shaped latch, some silver and gold filigree bells, a high-slit knee-length red silk skirt adorned with a dozen white bells, and a pair of eonake-soled sylvan sandals with leaf-patterned toe straps.

Background

Florania's Plea

Florania, a sylvan bard, had always known she wanted her daughter to be raised in the sylvan forests--and Florania's husband Azuryn, a human ranger, agreed. Although non-sylvans are almost never permitted in sylvan communities, the pregnant Florania traveled to her old home and made her case to the village leaders, supported by her Azuryn's [[::Animal_Companion_(630)|animal companion]], a forest wolf. The leaders eventually agreed with two conditions: he would only be allowed in a limited area of the forest and could only stay until their daughter was twenty years old--a pittance to a sylvan lifespan, but a fully grown lady by human standards.

And so, several months later, Fiara was born in the sylvan forests, rare enough to be there as a half-sylvan and rarer still that her human father was with her.

Florania lived with guilt, however, that her family would have to leave the forest in what seemed to a sylvan as no time at all. She mused to her daughter one day, thinking she was alone in the room: "Our little leaf, Fiara, who must one day fall from these trees..."

Azuryn, who had walked in without her noticing, tried to lighten the mood: "What's this, not even two weeks old and you're renaming her Leafiara without me? 'Cause I do like it," he added, flashing a grin.

Florania returned a smile to him. "So do I."

Smiling Face of Salvation

Naturally very energetic, Leafi grew up as a mischievous handful unlike anything the pure sylvans were prepared for. But thinking herself invincible, and largely actually being stronger and faster than sylvan children her age, also set her up for a near-tragedy. At seven years old she had run off to pick herbs on her own when something put a large hole through her midsection, killing her instantly and unexpectedly.

There were no known witnesses to the event and to this day Leafi doesn't know what happened; it might have been a wild boar goring her on its tusk, an unusually prejudiced sylvan firing an arrow and clearing away the evidence, or a practicing mage's spell gone astray. She only knew she lay there dead in a still and helpless panic, an eternity of terror to a child even though only a few minutes in reality, before a cleric arrived to save her, soothing the girl with a gentle smile and a warm, almost motherly voice that would never leave her memory.

And so Leafiara, whose stamina and energy could easily have led her to take after her parents and become a ranger or a bard, knew that she must one day became a cleric--with the hope that she could one day to be to others that smiling face of salvation.

Actress of Many Masks

Although she was clearly different from others throughout her time in the sylvan forests, Leafi established her place in the community starting in her early teenage years after her parents encouraged her to join a theater troupe, where she began discovering her love of music, dance, and whimsical outfits.

Her mother helped her develop a strong and clear singing voice for her age, which got her foot in the door, but being the only half-sylvan of the troupe eventually led her to become one of its cornerstones. Sometimes told that she was a blessing from both Tilamaire and Cholen, Leafiara's distinct appearance led to her being frequently asked to play a variety of human characters simply to look more believable, giving the girl leeway to expand her acting range and avoid being typecast. There was never any predicting what personality, profession, race, or even gender Leafi would portray next time she stepped on the stage.

Leafiara was not quite as unlimited an actress as audiences came to think. In her troupe's eyes she was never able to convincingly play a romantic role even in practice, and thus never asked to play one publicly, though they found her acting slightly more credible if her love interest was female. She could also never master the portrayal of a villain unless the character was comedic, over-the-top, or covert. In an infamous incident Leafiara also literally "broke a leg"--and an arm--mere seconds after putting on a pair of heels for a princess costume, after which she swore it was the one and only time she would ever wear them.

Despite these shortcomings, Leafi was believable enough in the roles she did play that she was sometimes teased with questions over which of her many faces was the real one. Some in the community also had concerns, largely unspoken, about whether she had become a proficient enough actress to raise doubt over her sincerity and openness in everyday life.

Coverup and Fallout

Throughout her young life Leafiara's parents had withheld the truth of Florania's deal from her, pushing that they wanted to leave the forest as a family when she was of age instead of explaining that Azuryn had to leave. However, her parents' guilt grew as they saw their daughter become more entrenched with her theater troupe and, after realizing she might not want to go, they revealed the truth to her five months before her twentieth birthday.

After Leafi's initial angry outburst and an extensive heated argument, she calmed down and her parents discussed their options, leaving the choice in her hands: she and her mother had the option to remain if they wished. Ultimately Leafiara decided that leaving as a family was for the best, partly because that had already been the plan but mostly because of being upset with the village leaders for not allowing her father to stay.

Between the coverup by her parents and the isolationism of the leaders, Leafi developed a distrust of figures in power, including well-intentioned ones, and lives with suspicion of conspiracies against her as well as insecurity that everything around her could be a house of cards that falls apart for reasons unknown to her until too late. To prevent either possibility, she aims to be a people pleaser in a broad sense, but also shows reluctance to get emotionally close to others in a way that leaves her vulnerable.

Characteristics

Likes

• Adventure
• Dance
• Fighting competitions such as the Festival of the Fallen or events held at the Icemule Trace Brawling Tavern
• Music
• Rescuing
• Shoes
• The Brotherhood of Rooks (at least in theory)
• Theater

Dislikes

• Alcohol
• Bureaucracy
• Cowardice
• High heels
• Prejudice
• Stuffy armor
• Stuffy clothing
• Ta'Vaalor

Hopes

• Acceptance despite being half-sylvan
• Being a great resurrection-specializing cleric
• Excitement in everyday life
• Recognition of heroic deeds
• Staying young at heart--and in body

Fears

• Boredom
• Giving in to vengeful feelings
• Hurting loved ones
• Inability to save a life
• Learning of some great power that could tempt or corrupt her
• Maturing
• Mind control
• Pain
• Rejection
• Stoics

Other Quirks

• Can be as greedy with money as she is generous with time and energy
• Can't wear long sleeves, pants, or fully enclosed shoes (like boots) for long without feeling uncomfortable and out of harmony with nature
• Does not swear even mildly
• Extremely naive and ignorant about romance
• Has a somewhat limited vocabulary, despite her more eloquent mother's best efforts to teach her
• Romanticizes the heroism of knights as they're presented in plays, but pragmatically thinks spies are more important for protecting the innocent
• Too impatient and full of energy to study magic in a traditional academic way, but instead develops her talent in a passive and subconscious way that gives off the impression of a prodigy, growing stronger by hearing and adapting to the inner musical harmony of magic as Tilamaire allows her to hear it
• Willing to throw herself into nearly any dangerous plan that poses risk of her being seriously hurt, but straight-laced about refusing to do anything that will definitely hurt even slightly, like getting a piercing or tattoo

Affiliations

• Guildmaster of the Cleric Guild
• Master in the Order of Voln
• Contact for the Scions of Shaundara
• Wehnimer's Landing correspondent for The TownCrier
• Advisor and Public Relations liason for Mayor Cruxophim
• Landing Ambassador to Icemule Trace for Mayor Cruxophim
• Member of Hand of the Arkati
• Member of The Witching Hour
• Member of Twilight Hall

Eyes of the Dawn

Events

Leafiara came to live in Wehnimer's Landing during the time of the war against Chaston Griffin, who exerted mental powers over the Blameless and even the general populace, turning them against [[::half-elf|half-elves]] as murderers and assassins. Though not a part of the [[::Wehnimer%27s_Landing_Militia/saved_posts|militia]], she made early efforts to patrol town and root out snipers using herself as bait.

The conflict escalated as Leafi and hundreds of other half-elves were afflicted by a curse, later discovered to be the work of Raznel, which gave the appearance of black veins and caused debilitating outbreaks of sores and boils. Seeing the curse as a blood-related affliction, Leafi approached the blood expert Cruxophim with a proposal to find half-elven donors and supply samples of cursed and pure blood alike for his study in efforts to find a cure. She at first eagerly supplied donors and samples to Crux, amidst being fired up in more direct war efforts to repel Chaston's crusaders from the Landing and Vornavis as needed, but backed off from blood collection several weeks later after hearing certain reports about Crux's past, previously unknown to her.

The situation worsened as Chaston's forces occupied the east side of the Landing and constructed cleansing camps, taking half-elven and half-krolvin prisoners to bleed and kill them. As with her earlier self-sacrificial plan to draw out snipers, Leafiara thought of infiltrating the camps under the guise of a prisoner in fake bonds, but before she could propose it to the militia she was [[::Eyes_of_the_Dawn_-_Emperor%27s_Denouncement_and_Chaston%27s_Attack#Leafiara.27s_Capture|captured and brought into a camp]] in real bonds. There some of her blood was taken and she might ultimately have died if not for the unexpected intervention of Disean setting her free, for which she still says she owes him a debt. Only a week later she was kidnapped again along with several other half-elven adventurers around the Landing, brought onto a ship by Raznel herself, where the witch took their blood to [[::Eyes_of_the_Dawn_-_Raznel%27s_Blood_Marble|complete her work]] with blood marble before releasing them.

Though shaken by these experiences and filled with an unfamiliar feeling of vulnerability that led her to become more physically affectionate, Leafi eventually seemed to rebound from her trauma with the support of Severine and other friends. She joined with dozens of Landing defenders aiding Rodnay in [[::Chaston%27s_Mindscape_During_Assault|hindering Chaston's mental control]] and then again in defeating Drangell and Chaston himself at Talador. Despite these victories, Chaston used his final moments to activate an obelisk, seemingly powered by Raznel's blood magic, which laid waste to Talador--and for that reason along with the black blood curse, Leafiara has her eyes set on taking Raznel's head one day and cannot be satisfied until then.

As peace settled in, Brieson from the Hall of Mages was able to use Cruxophim's research to produce and distribute a cure for the black blood curse, with Leafiara being the [[::Eyes_of_the_Dawn_-_Stability_for_Larsya_and_Salve_for_Half-Elves#Curing_Leafiara_-_Bubbly_Lass|second volunteer]] for early testing. She seems to be fully recovered--though several months later Dennet Kestrel would question whether this is truly the case.

Aftermath

Freedom Fighter

For her efforts in the war and with the cure, Leafiara was recognized as one of a few trusted contacts in the Landing for the Scions of Shaundara. Although the Scions themselves are not recognized by the Turamzzyrian Empire in any positive light, it is just as well for Leafi, who distrusts authority and has said that the Hall of Mages, Church of Koar, and the Emperor himself did not act quickly or forcefully enough against Chaston.

Self-Improvement

Seeing the power of Chaston and Raznel at work led Leafiara to believe early in the war that her unfamiliarity with blood magic might be hindering her duty to save the fallen and protect her loved ones. She joined Twilight Hall, a [[::Co-operative_Houses_of_Elanthia|Great House]] dedicated to studying magic, in hopes that someone could teach her. However, after being captured very shortly thereafter, she became self-conscious about being seen as physically weak and ultimately put off those studies to rededicate herself toward greater physical strength.

Trust and Reconciliation

Despite learning about Cruxophim's past, Leafi eventually reconciled with him and expressed trust that he had changed after noticing that, when Chaston had thrown waves of mind-controlled children at adventurers in Talador to activate the obelisk, Crux had not been among those who slaughtered them.

Keeping up with the Kestrels

Events

Mission: Carenos' Death

Leafiara maintained early distance from the Kestrels when they arrived at the Hendoran outpost, but took a more active interest after Carenos assassinated Leafi's best friend Severine in [[::Icemule Trace|Icemule]] for refusing to provide information about the Kestrels.

Among various mysteries, murders, and disappearances over the next couple months, as well as campaigning for mayor, Leafiara offered occasional help to the Kestrels, hoping to glean information that might help her get vengeance on Carenos. Carenos' target was Cyph Kestrel, who he claimed had killed his daughters, and he eventually shot Cyph with the Long Suffering poison, putting him in endless agony.

Leafiara joined Elementz, Ariond, and many others as they searched for Carenos over two nights, getting information on his whereabouts from the [[::Brotherhood of Rooks|Rooks]] and then tracking him down. Though Carenos lived in the wilderness outside of Landing jurisdiction, Shinann fogged him into the Landing to escape pursuit by golems under Dennet Kestrel's control. There Carenos, seemingly frantic and possibly having his mind invaded at the time, would murder Rowmi. Various adventurers attempted to take him into custody, but ultimately Leafiara fogged him to the North Dock, cornering him for the militia to arrest him.

Carenos was later put to trial, where Leafi and many others testified, but ironically an unknown assailant shot him with the Long Suffering before Judge Renpaw could render a verdict. Months later, [[::Ysharra_Nagorn|Ysharra]] would put him out of his misery with a mercy killing, to Leafiara's apparent delight.

Self-Reliance

Since early in the Kestrels' stay, Shinann had been visiting Dennet's wife Reannah Kestrel in efforts to cure her of a mysterious ailment, and eventually Dennet invited Leafiara and Sareyna to take care of her as well. Leafi agreed with the same hope of a cure, though many months later she would admit the ulterior motive of also wanting to keep a closer eye on the Outpost and suspicious behavior surrounding Dennet.

That suspicious behavior also attracted Osment the Augment, a member of the Red Brigade, who came to town to investigate and interviewed many people over several nights, including Leafiara. On one such night he disappeared, but he resurfaced a few nights later and claimed that the trail had gone cold and he would return home.

While adventurers discussed whether his memories had been altered by Quinshon, a Tehir mentalist and former member of the Hall of Mages working with Dennet, Leafi agreed that something was wrong but argued that it didn't matter and the Landing should resolve its problems on its own.

The Cyph Who Leafiara Could Have Been

Cyph's father Dennet planned to seal him inside a bane coffin until a cure for the Long Suffering could be found. Leafiara reluctantly helped others build the wards on the coffin, acknowledging it as a viable plan but hoping to find a better alternative before needing to use it. However, she regretted her aid due to suspicious circumstances that night and later did not help with sealing Cyph away.

Dennet and Quinshon eventually conducted a ritual to transfer Cyph's soul into the donated corpse of a Landing citizen, leaving behind the poison and his magical abilities. Over several weeks Cyph recovered strength and began training with a sword, asking to become a Landing citizen and join the militia, but had trouble retaining memories. He also began to make romantic gestures toward Leafi, who didn't return his affections but also didn't reject him due to sympathy and not wanting to risk hindering his recovery.

However, ultimately Quinshon revealed that the transference had been a failure and Cyph would die soon. Leafiara tried to reach out to Cyph with an offer to seek the Arkati's intervention, but was not in time as the transference fell apart one night and she and other Landing adventurers watched him pass.

In Cyph's final moments, he admitted to feeling pleasure over killing Carenos' daughters in an act of vengeance after Carenos had tortured him for two days. Leafi, who had carried vengeful feelings against the same man, did not blink at this and even snapped at those daughters' ghosts when they appeared to witness Cyph's death.

Afterward Leafiara retreated to her sanctuary and offered a silent bargaining prayer to Lorminstra to give more of her spirit to a [[::Raise_Dead_(318)|resurrection]] than ever before if Cyph could be saved, but to no avail other than the [[::Spirit_death|loss of her own life]]. Though Leafi was restored, she was left despondent and Severine, Chaoswynd, Lylia, Ysharra, and others arrived to comfort her in a moment of weakness and grief.

Dennet's Downfall

Dennet's grand plan to rescue Reannah was having Quinshon transfer her into the body of a living person, for which his candidates were Shinann, Sareyna, and Leafiara. Dennet eventually selected and kidnapped Shinann, uniting dozens of Landing adventurers to find her with the help of the half-Ithzir Rodnay. They arrived at Dennet's underground chamber to see what appeared to be a successful transference--but was again a failure, leaving Shinann experiencing memories of Reannah's instead of being overtaken by her.

Rodnay drove off Quinshon, who remains at large. Dennet, wanting to die alongside his wife, got his wish and was impaled by a falling rock as the chamber collapsed.

Aftermath

Lingering Curse Concerns

Having originally dismissed it as a poor attempt at sowing dissension when Dennet Kestrel questioned during the 5117 mayoral campaign whether traces of the black blood curse lingered within her, Leafiara took it more seriously in hindsight after scraps of Naimorai Kestrel's journal revealed that, for unknown reasons, Leafi was ruled out as a host for Reannah's soul.

Even though Dennet selected Shinann, who had been afflicted with the same curse and had shown a more similar reaction to Leafi than to others such as Bekke or Gavrien when the cure was applied, the possibility of it lingering led Leafiara to provide Cruxophim with another blood sample to compare against past blood she'd given while known to be cursed.

Love and the Line Between Justice and Vengeance

Leafiara's concerns in the wake of the Kestrels were not merely external threats, as her struggles against darker tendencies haunted her.

During the height of Chaston Griffin's power she had dreamed of taking his life, not merely pragmatically but with a gleeful sense of vengeance, and had been talked down from becoming twisted with rage by Rubi and [[::Ysharra_Nagorn|Ysharra]]. Despite this, less than a year later she watched with great pleasure as that same Ysharra delivered a mercy killing to Carenos, who Leafiara had never forgiven for assassinating Severine.

That Leafiara should be concerned with her joy over Carenos' death did not occur to her until months later when grief over failure to save Cyph Kestrel led her to dream of ending Dennet's life in a fit of vengeance--and to again be talked down, this time by Chaoswynd, Khylynnia, and Severine.

Though fearful of what she might become, Leafi hangs on to the memory of her horror over seeing her friends' concern and secretly relies on them to save her from herself if she loses sight of her better judgment again. Although she publicly revealed her past vindictiveness toward Chaston during the 5117 mayoral debates, she would only share her vindictiveness toward Dennet with very close friends until Fashanos 5118 when making a public statement regarding the vigilante Rone.

Blood Magic Musings

As she did during the war against Chaston, Leafi pondered whether she needed to gain experience with blood magic after disappointment with her inability to save not only Cyph, but also Lana and Reannah Kestrel.

However, she has not yet inquired further with anyone since, despite looking up to known practitioners Cruxophim and Stormyrain, blood magic is also the domain of her hated enemy Raznel and not to be taken lightly, especially considering newfound self-recognition of her emotional vulnerability.

Rook Sympathizer

Despite turning against [[::Brotherhood_of_Rooks|Rook]] leader Rysus after he threatened Reannah's life in retribution for Dennet's suspected kidnappings, Leafiara still respected the Rooks' talent with gathering intel, including leading adventurers to Carenos.

Though she admired [[::Wehnimer%27s_Landing_Militia/saved_posts|militia]] captains Stormyrain and Shinann, Leafi had ongoing frustrations and impatience with the militia's inability to act on suspicions, such as an unwillingness to detain Dennet after his mother-in-law Drandea first accused him, or to act outside of Landing jurisdiction, such as an unwillingness to detain Stephos DeArchon when he spoke with adventurers at the Black Sands.

Her disdain for the limitations of the law, along with Rysus' eventual claim that his threat to Reannah hadn't been serious, have ultimately led Leafi to continue considering the Rooks a valuable ally and a necessary option for protecting the town, with no viable alternatives, despite disagreement with some of the methods they've been known to use.

Anti-Imperialist Leanings

Leafiara has begun sympathizing with others such as Archales, Chamorr, Pukk, and Wolfloner in anti-imperialist sentiments. Despite several notable Imperial allies like Brieson, Malvernus, Pylasar, and Sir Thadston, along with [[::Kingdom_of_Hendor|Hendor]]'s ongoing aid, she also sees many Imperial figures as either incompetent, malicious, or self-serving enough to be untrustworthy.

The quick downfall of Osment was a turning point leading Leafi to say publicly that the Landing is better off not relying on external help.

Rise of Rone

Events

[coming soon as the story develops, or possibly after it's over]

Assorted Tidbits

Mechanical Stuff

 Current training goals
 Climbing from 30 to 101 so Leafi can consistently get into the Sanctum of Scales whenever she wants
 Multi-Opponent Combat from 60 to 100 for more [[::MSTRIKE (verb)|mstriking]] fun
 At the annual fixskills, drop all Shield Use and possibly other skills to free up enough TPs for anywhere from 22 to all 101 ranks of Dodging, as well as taking Magic Item Use from 20 to at least 101--if not 202--in hopes that Bloodriven Village will offer desirable X/day buffs in Lumnea

 Project weapons
 an eonake-edged folded razern katana: enchant it up, remove sanctification to make it easier to work with
 a perfect maple-hafted mithril maul: enchant it up, add [[::Knockout_flare|knockout flares]]
 a perfect mithril-shafted white ora lance: enchant it up, add Ironwright flares
 a perfect mithril-shafted mithril spear: enchant it up, add [[::Greater_elemental_flare|greater elemental flares]]
 a perfect mithril-shafted mithril lance: enchant it up, add polearm flarers

 Artisan skills
 In the skill of forging - crafting, you are a master with 500 ranks.
 In the skill of forging - [[::Polearm_Weapons|pole arms]], you are a master with 500 ranks.
 In the skill of cobbling, you are a master with 500 ranks.

 Instruments
 Your current skill level in [[::Instrument_messaging_woodwind|woodwind instruments]] is Apprentice.
 Your current skill level in [[::Instrument_messaging_necked_stringed|necked stringed instruments]] is Apprentice.
 Your current skill level in [[::Instrument_messaging_stringed|stringed instruments]] is Apprentice.
 Your current skill level in [[::Instrument_messaging_percussion|percussion instruments]] is Apprentice.
 Your current skill level in [[::Instrument_messaging_horn-type|horn-type instruments]] is Apprentice.

 Guild skills
 You are Guild Master of the Cleric Guild.
 You are a Master of [[::Category:General_Alchemy|General Alchemy]].
 You are a Master of [[::Category:Cleric_Potions|Alchemic Potions]].
 You are a Master of [[::Category:Cleric_Trinkets|Alchemic Trinkets]].

Publications

• TownCrier Interview Sessions with Leafiara (as interviewee)
• TownCrier Interview Sessions with Khylynnia (as interviewer)

Feedback

Ask me things about Leafiara on my [[::Talk:Leafiara|discussion page]] and maybe I'll answer!