Cadance (platinum)

Artist: Bardliest using Midjourney and PS

Cadance == Herald to the Warlord == Race Sylvankind Class Bard Disposition Reserved Demeanor Soft-spoken and Shy Primary Trait Friendly Secondary Trait Quiet Flaw Stockholm syndrome (supposedly) Greatest Strength Silver-tongued Greatest Weakness Need for Approval Hobbies Music, dancing, shopping Likes Animals, roses, instruments, dark things Dislikes Senseless cruelty, embarrassment, untended wounds Fears Disappointing others, hurting people, being left adrift again Loyalties Her Master foremost, her friends, and Dhe'nar in general

Appearance

You see Silvertongue Cadance the Herald of the Warlord.

She is of a slight height and has a muscled, but soft physique.  She appears to be youthful.  She has honey-flecked pale emerald eyes and alabaster skin.  She has long, fine silvery moonlight-blonde hair held back behind the ears by several tangled rose vines crafted into a thorn-caught headdress.  She has a delicate face, a small nose and high cheekbones.  She has some sculpted silver rose earcaps encircled by thin smoky green emerald leaves attached to her ears.

She has a series of tiny hoops set along the slender tips of her pointed ears, and some faint cross-layered scars. She has the subtle hint of ombre rose pigment upon her full heart-shaped lips. Mystical energies wash over her, surrounding her in an elemental shroud of swirling ethereal lights.

She has a tiny pale emerald teadragon with dark silvery-ruffled wings sitting on her shoulder. She is wearing a pair of softly trailing silvered sky opal earrings, a seamless ring of wine-dark bloodjewel, a vaalin-boned pale silk bodice laced with silver chains, an elegantly draped flyrsilk skirt with a vaalin-chained thigh slit, and a pair of thin white slippers with satin silk calf-laces.

Brief History

Born in a respectably well-to-do manor near Ta'Illistim as an only child, Cadance was raised by a loving, yet weak-willed father and a vicious and manipulative stepmother. Upon reaching what was decided as a 'mature enough' age, Cadance was forcefully removed from the estate under armed guard with a cold impersonal letter and a handful of silvers. Instructions to leave "for anywhere but here" were relayed. Her father never attempted contacting her afterwards, so his true feelings on the matter were unknown. She carries the tear-stained letter to this day.

In the Common language, it reads:

Dearest Cadance,

 Upon hearing of your latest escapades and usual callous disregard to your family's social standing, we have decided it is in everyone's best interest to cut all ties.  Upon your father's insistence, we've graciously decided to send 500 silvers with this letter to help you on your way.  Please embarrass neither yourself nor us by trying to return, as the guardsmen have been notified to deny you access and to call the constable upon your trespass. I'm sure you understand                                         

~Lady Vivvy

She traveled cautiously and fearfully to the Landing where she met her first ever Dhe'nar elf among the handful of townsfolk. He stalked her for weeks, teased and cajoled her, kept her in close company for months and gave her someone strong to hide behind. That's what hooked her.. He was strength and stability, confidence, power and safety when she needed it the most and yet had it the very least. She willingly traded her entire future to Him, just to be able to always stay in that safe shadow He seemed to cast.

Word came that her father was ill and so she begged permission to travel back to attempt to see him before his death. She was immediately seized upon returning as she had previously been warned would happen, never getting to see her father before he died and eventually tossed into a lonely prison cell. There she stayed imprisoned for years, until her stepmother finally died as well. The manor had no other heirs remaining, but for herself, thereby earning her release by default.

A Decade later...

Nobody had come to look for her while she was held captive all those years, yet she made her way back to Landing as she had promised. Leaving as soon as she was free to do so, but years after she was expected to have returned.

It was now filled with all strangers again and He nor His Tower council members were to be found, though His manor still stood vacant and forlorn. With no direction nor messages left behind, lost again and alone among these NEW strangers with no idea of what to do next, she did somehow manage to meet yet another Dhe'nar elf.

Although completely different in manner then any of his kind (in all her previous experience), his warmth and kindness reached her in a new way. Though she found happiness in his much brighter and hopeful countenance and companionship, she quickly realized in their casual conversation that there WAS a new 'recognized Authority' that she should seek official audience with. To either remove any last hopes of reuniting with Him and have her bonds then removed to seek some terrifying new path or to receive powerful assistance in finding Him and regaining that security she once had in His shadow of power. Either way, an end to being lost and adrift.

The official news returned to the Authority: "Considered Deceased" and "Put it out of its misery" is what she heard. She had not honestly considered it possible that He was truly gone. She flailed for an anchor in her sudden drowning realization and realized in her spiral that she had only one decision before her, now offered in exchange for that same sense of security and shadows.

Life had shown her a stark reality in contrast to what she thought her life would be like as an adult. This was not the fanciful dreams of a warm and pleasant life, only truly believable as a child... This was nothing short of survival now she felt. Yes, it was dark, but after so many years of it being ingrained in training and then imprisoned in solitude for so very long, it was also now firmly a NEED. More needed even than life while floating adrift, perhaps?

She has traded her future again. Though to One who is much stronger and to whom safety within His shadow stretches even further. Cold honesty, loyalty, wisdom, and ferocity with strength, power, and confidence... all wrapped up in a dark muscular package. Plans of rescuing her from her binds are appreciated in thought, but not needed nor desired, as she is willingly content in her place by His feet and loyally within His shadow.

To be Continued...