Leafiara (prime)

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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 [[::Brawling_weapons|brawling weapons]], [[::Edged_Weapons|edged weapons]], and [[::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 Autumnwind
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 Scion of Shaundara.

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 fair skin. She has shoulder length, tousled bright red hair framing her face in a disheveled, carefree style. She has a well-defined, heart-shaped face and slightly pointed ears. She has alternating malachite and azure gloss brushed onto her smooth rounded fingernails.

She is wearing a gold-edged fox-shaped locket, a white-edged red silk cape fastened with an emerald music note pin, a sleeveless white silk shirt with a red leaf-printed collar, a crimson-edged white diamond wristlet, some fingerless autumn-hued gloves inset with sylvan sigils in white ora, a crystal-inset gold ring, a pure white silk gem pouch embroidered with a bold red musical note, a pure white silk instrument case with a bold red leaf-shaped latch, a high-slit knee-length red silk skirt adorned with a dozen white bells, and a pair of slim autumn-hued sandals inset with sylvan sigils in white ora.

Characteristics

Likes

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
  • Normalcy
  • 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 and magical items in a traditional academic way, but is blessed by Tilamaire with an ability to hear and adapt to the inner musical harmony of magic around her, essentially allowing her to develop her talent and magical strength in a passive and subconscious way; her always-ongoing learning has led her to great magical power for her young age, giving off the impression of a prodigy
  • Was also an auditory learner in the first place and can remember tones, cadences, and inflections well; between that and Tilamaire's blessing, she can easily remember and transcribe conversations for The TownCrier after the fact
  • 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

Publications

Logs and Interviews

Leafiara's Tales (Character Vignettes)

  • [[::Leafiara's Tales - Crisis of Conscience and Clash of Character|Crisis of Conscience and Clash of Character]] (entirely OOC knowledge: October 17, 2016)
  • [[::Leafiara's Tales - The Only Recognition...|The Only Recognition...]] (mostly OOC knowledge: October 25, 2016)
  • [[::Leafiara%27s_Tales_-_Proudly_Introducing...|Proudly Introducing...]] (IC knowledge: October 29, 2016)
  • [[::Leafiara's Tales - A Letter Forever Undelivered|A Letter Forever Undelivered]] (entirely OOC knowledge: November 16, 2016)
  • [[::Leafiara's Tales - A Trio of Letters|A Trio of Letters]] (two IC knowledge, one OOC knowledge: March 29, 2017)
  • [[::Leafiara's Tales - A Coraesine Carol|A Coraesine Carol]] (mostly OOC knowledge: May 11, 2018)
  • [[::Leafiara's Tales - A Very Bloodriven Vacation|A Very Bloodriven Vacation]] (generally OOC knowledge: June 14, 2018)

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.

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 control 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 and 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 didn't yet inquire 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, ultimately led Leafi to continue privately considering the Rooks a necessary option for protecting the town 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

Vigilante Ethics

In early 5118 a white-cloaked vigilante began to make appearances around Wehnimer's Landing. Capable of travel through an ethereal mist, he was known to slay people for unknown reasons and leave their gutted corpses behind. Loresongs of the bodies would reveal deeds such as [[::Rise_of_Rone_-_Dinner_Tomorrow,_Mystery_Tonight|sexual harassment]], [[::Rise_of_Rone_-_The_Vigilante%27s_Repeat_Performance|wife abuse]], [[::Rise_of_Rone_-_Strike_Three|embezzling]], and [[::Rise_of_Rone_-_Rescue_From_Danjirland|selling children as slaves]], all happening immediately before the attacks.

The loresongs, along with the vigilante telling Puptilian that he intended to cleanse the town of corruption, left Leafiara initially equal parts nonchalant and flippant about whether the vigilante should be pursued or left alone. She did, however, acknowledge curiosities about how--or if--he was gathering information on who to target and why he saw the [[::Brotherhood_of_Rooks|Rooks]] as part of the town's corruption.

Leafi began to take him more seriously after [[::Rise_of_Rone_-_On_the_Seventh_Night_of_Not_Really_Rone...|an attack on the Rook tunnels]], in which the vigilante unleashed exploding prisms whose effects rocked the town even above ground. More importantly, at least in her eyes, loresongs of the slain Rooks did not reveal any fell deeds before they were attacked--only refusing to reveal the whereabouts of Rysus, who the vigilante said was dying. Though still not condemning the vigilante, she grew determined to confront him.

Dubious Decisions, Odd Opportunities

For unknown reasons, Stephos DeArchon began to take an interest in capturing the vigilante and [[::Mayor%27s_Minutes_-_A_Proposal_by_Stephos|proposed releasing prisoners to bait him out]] in a meeting which Leafi refused to attend due to personal disdain for the man--though this led her to a crisis of conscience.

Thinking she might not be any better than Stephos, she confessed to Shinann and Stormyrain that during the Kestrels' time in the outpost she had released a series of anonymous pamphlets attempting to incite vigilantes to rise up among the townspeople and take action against Dennet Kestrel since she couldn't find an opening to do it herself. She made the information public at the suggestion of the militia captains, along with an apology for indicting the townspeople over not doing enough to stop Dennet.

Afterward she took it as an opportunity. Mayor Cruxophim rejected Stephos' plan, but as the vigilante now going by the name Rone began to make increasing threats against Crux, Leafi privately offered her own proposal. She argued that while others' plans typically involved baiting Rone with figures who he would see as enemies, she--having called for vigilantism before--might be able to bait him as a figure who he would see as an ally or sympathizer.

Treacherous, Traitorous Treason?!

Stephos moved forward with [[::Rise_of_Rone_-_Stephos%27_Mercenaries_and_Rone%27s_Hostage#Searching_For_Rone|a backup plan]], using a yellow shard to create an anti-magic field throughout the Landing, disabling Rone's means of escape through the mist. Thereafter one of his hired mercenaries [[::Rise_of_Rone_-_Stephos%27_Mercenaries_and_Rone%27s_Hostage#Rone_Gets_Shot|shot and injured Rone]]--who, in an [[::Rise_of_Rone_-_Stephos%27_Mercenaries_and_Rone%27s_Hostage#Rone.27s_Desperate_Move|act of desperation]] while surrounded, took Lylia hostage, set off a prism, and ran.

Leafiara would ultimately find the two of them in the forest, where Rone moved his dagger away from Lylia and asked for [[::Rise_of_Rone_-_Stephos%27_Mercenaries_and_Rone%27s_Hostage#Hostage_and_Help|help with his wound]], to which she agreed. Stonmel arrived to see and alert others, but before many could arrive, Leafi finished bandaging Rone, who thanked her, pushed Lylia away, and disappeared through the mist.

Stonmel would go on to raise accusations of treason, which Mayor Crux passed along to the courts, and Leafi made a public statement about the hostage negotiation. Ultimately Renpaw did not pursue an investigation.

Bloody Finale

Despite her help, Rone didn't allow Leafiara to get closer to him than anyone else over the next month. As she and Lylia campaigned to be the next mayor, the situation also escalated throughout the Landing with [[::Rise_of_Rone_-_The_Priest_and_the_Acolyte|imitation vigilantes]] trying to bait him out, actors trying to [[::Rise_of_Rone_-_Framing_Device|frame Mayor Crux]] for [[::Rise_of_Rone_-_Shanty_Town_Captives|kidnapping and torture]], and a crowd of unidentified people taking up their own white cloaks and [[::Rise_of_Rone_-_The_Pillar_Plan_and_the_Rone_Riot|attempting to arrest Crux]].

This culminated in Crux proposing to [[::Rise_of_Rone_-_Enacting_the_Pillar_Plan|repurpose the bone pillars]] left behind by Grishom Stone, nominally to draw upon their latent energy to shield the Landing against future attacks--but also with the covert second agenda, known to his advisors such as Leafi, to use that energy to capture Rone.

The situation came to a head after [[::Rise_of_Rone_-_Fall_of_Rone|Rone injected Cruxophim with an unknown substance]] that cut him off from the mana flows, claiming to intend to reveal the monster he is. One week later, the blood mages Stormyrain, Kipara, and Khylynnia would go on to [[::Rise_of_Rone_-_The_Lyon%27s_Share_of_Blood_Magic|enact Crux's plan]], aided by Leafi and Mayor Elect Lylia helping to channel the energy, in a ritual that ultimately bound Rone and led to his capture.

Aftermath

What Could Have Been: Blood Maiden Leafiara

After wondering for almost two years what might be possible if she began to practice blood magic, Leafi at last approached Stormyrain during Rone's time with questions about what it entailed--partly driven by the plan to capture Rone and partly driven by Breshon Caulfield's urgency to find a way to restore Larsya Caulfield's youth. After hearing her out, Leafi concluded that it would be counterproductive to learn about blood magic personally and is no longer pursuing the idea, but remains open to enlisting the help of other blood mages.

The Most Free People of the Landing

When Rone appeared at the Black Sands at the end of Charlatos, with Leafiara knowing well that he would likely be captured that night, she bid him a [[::Rise_of_Rone_-_The_Lyon%27s_Share_of_Blood_Magic#The_Great_Rone_Debate|public farewell of sorts]] in full view of everyone, saying: "You're one of the most free men in the Landing, Rone, aren't you? You and the Rooks... bound by no laws. The most free people of the Landing. It's kind of admirable, if either of you didn't see fit to kill indiscriminately. Almost envious of you."

A Week Too Late For Sabotage

Despite aiding with binding Rone, [[::Rise_of_Rone_-_The_Lyon%27s_Share_of_Blood_Magic#Rone.27s_Capture|Leafiara told him after his capture]] that "It's really a shame. I liked you a lot, actually. If this were a week ago, I would have tried to sabotage it. But that was then and this is now. It's nothing personal." What this implies and why is anyone's guess aside from her closest friends.

However, as Cruxophim revealed Rone to be Malluch and told him to look at what he became, Leafi said she kind of liked what he became, but he picked the wrong targets. Crux warned her that Malluch had taken a road one couldn't turn back on, but she said maybe someone would prove that wrong.

Mechanical Tidbits

Current Training Goals

Hoard training points until I either win a jackpot at Ebon Gate that really wants me to train a specific skill or walk out of Ebon Gate without a jackpot I want to use for hunting, in which case... I'll figure out what to train at that time, I guess!

Project Gear

A perfect white ora [[::katar|slasher]] with a handle wrapped in autumn-hued silk

5x, [[::Blink_weapon|blink flares]], 40 services [[::Weighting|crit weighting]], perfect forged.

My new pride and joy, this thing can clean house when the [[::Divine Fury (317)|Divine Fury]] flares go off! What else is there to say? It's very straightforward, but a powerhouse of a weapon. Over time I'll slowly take this to 7x and eventually 8x or higher, ideally add another flare in the flare slot, and get to 150 services of weighting.

A pure white / radiant white katar with a handle wrapped in ruby silk

5x, T3 [[::Sprite Weapon|sprite weapon]], plasma sprite flares, 20 services crit weighting.

I've enjoyed playing around with this and loving the absurdity of a tiny ruby sprite melting heads! I intend to get this to 7x in time for the next Duskruin, then hopefully buy enchanting potions and take it to 10x, then further down the road sanctify it and add even more flares in the flare slot--either lightning or plasma. I'll add weighting too, but only as I can for bloodscrip or silvers; it's not a huge priority compared to the blink weapon.

A perfect white ora [[::Katar|kunai]] with a handle wrapped in red silk

6x, T3 [[::Iasha_white_ora_weapon|Iasha]], 20 services crit weighting, perfect forged.

I'm not 100% sure, but this might be the only perfect forged T3 Iasha weapon in the game! Even if not, it's still very rare. It's a highly unique and sentimental weapon because of my crafting mark, to say nothing of how much I love the flares--the [[::Iasha_white_ora_weapon#Flare_Messaging|flare text]] is hilariously over the top and I get to see it all the time because of the low swing speed of a katar.

I'd like to take this weapon to 8x or higher so it can hit demons, though that'll require enchanting by a merchant, [[::Premium_Point_costs|premium points]], or a certificate. And it'll definitely reach 150 services sooner or later. ...mostly later.

Now I need to convince someone in dev that since [[::Black_ora#Pure_black_ora|pure black ora]] can have a second flare, pure white ora should be able to also. Note: the charts of clarity do say pure black ora takes up Category B, which would mean it can't have a second flare... But I'm not sure how that can be since the black ora no-dachi from the [[::Great_Auction_of_2016|2016 auction]] has both black ora and acid flares. I've seen it flare both in one swing firsthand, since my friend Chaoswynd used to own it.

A perfect mithril-shafted white ora lance

7x, Ironwright flares of [[::Fire_critical_table|fire]]/[[::Plasma_critical_table|plasma]]/[[::Unbalance_critical_table|web]], 10 services [[::Weighting|crit weighting]], perfect forged.

I'd like to see this one through to at least 8x. Originally I wanted to eventually take it to 150 services, but during early testing, the flares wear off and need to be cast again several hundred swings sooner than one of my [[::Bless_Item_(304)|blessings]] would have if I'd put Ironwright on a non-sanctified weapon. I'm not sure if weighting has any impact on that, though, since it's not at all the same as a blessing.

I do like this weapon and its versatility--the web flares are cool for anything corporeal, plasma is a generally good flare, and fire is nice for specific creatures. And as a cleric I can switch between any of those any time I want! Winning this for only 43m at Commencement of Coraesine Forest--well, I'd pay that again in a heartbeat. A little higher, actually, and if I ever see another Ironwright auction then I'd love to put it on a faster weapon next time!

Having said that... I want to bring up two things I assumed about Ironwright, where one sadly isn't true and the other might or might not be true and I don't know what to think of it.

First, I thought Ironwright was a script with double flares, but it isn't!

I figured that since it costs [[::Duskruin_Arena/February_2018_prize_list|175,000 bloodscrip]] while [[::Greater_elemental_flare|greater elemental flares]]--which do double flare--only cost 50,000, the higher price must be because Ironwright has a selection of non-elemental options. Plus, many years ago Ironwright had been offered with three flare slots--but that's never been done at a Duskruin, so I thought the reason why was that triple flaring would be too powerful to offer no matter the cost.

But nope, you get one flare at a time and switch between them. So I'm guessing that, to dev, the price difference is mostly because greater elemental flares make a weapon unblessable. And while I'd pay 43m again, my original thought at CCF was that I'd be willing to go to 100m--and that's not true anymore now that I've used an Ironwright weapon.

Second, I assumed that since it takes up [[::Item_properties|the script slot]] (category D) while also requiring an item to be blessable, it must leave the flare slot (category B) open.

For most professions it wouldn't matter whether the flare slot is open--they'd need the blessing to have the item work at all, so the option wouldn't be there to add a defensive bonus or unbalance flares or whatever else. But since clerics and paladins don't need blessings when Ironwright is on a naturally sanctified metal (naturally sanctified only), I thought I could add something in the flare slot.

So I won a minor service to add a common flare and asked to add fire. And... well, the merchant added fire, but not in the way I expected. Instead of having a weapon with double flares, fire became the third Ironwright option. So--can a person have a four-slot Ironwright weapon? Or are three flares the max and now any additional flares do go into the flare slot? Or would a new flare overwrite one of the previous ones? Maybe I'll find out one day!

An eonake-edged folded razern katana

5x, sanctified, katana weighting plus razern weighting (inspects as razern), enhancives to [[::Spiritual_Lore,_Blessings|Blessings lore]] (8), Magic Item Use (4), and Spiritual Mana Control (7).

I bought this from the winner of a Winterfest raffle in 2016 back when it was 2x and weighted weapons couldn't be enchanted--so what a deal that turned out to be! It's expensive to enchant since it needs ayveneh potions and eoveneh potions alike, but worth it. I want to eventually add something to spice it up more than just having neat enhancives, but that could be years down the road. Not really sure.

Miscellaneous Lower Priority Things

  • A pair of slim autumn-hued sandals inset with sylvan sigils in white ora - 5x, T1 Iasha. Over the long haul I'd eventually like to have these unlocked to T3 for the +3 Wisdom stat bonus.
  • A perfect maple-hafted mithril maul - 7x, perfect forged. My wizard swings it and I'd like to add [[::Knockout_flare|knockout flares]] at some point, but it's a low priority. She'll need a backup weapon anyway since I think knockout flares will make it unblessable and the only capped hunting I like that doesn't need a blessing is bandits and Grimswarm.
  • A perfect mithril-shafted mithril lance - 5x, perfect forged. My goal is to get it up to 7x and add polearm flares, but I'm not in a rush since my bard can use a sonic lance and my sorcerer won't have the stats to swing a lance for quite some time.
  • A perfect mithril-shafted mithril spear - 4x, perfect forged. I might or might not ever do anything with this! Just made it with some spare mithril since I already had enough lances and thought I'd make at least one [[::GRIP_(verb)|grippable]] perfect weapon just in case.
  • A perfect white ora katar - 4x, perfect forged. I want it to be at least 7x and add some neat flares or other, just to have even more options available, but don't know what yet. Maybe [[::Greater_elemental_flare|greater elemental flares]] or maybe I'll just hold on to it for the extreme long haul and hope to either make another blink out of it or a T3 briar weapon.
  • Some fingerless autumn-hued gloves inset with sylvan sigils in white ora - 5x, T1 Iasha. Same situation as the sandals.
  • Some zelnorn chain mail - 5x. The famous offense-boosting metal that currently gives me +13 AS and +12 DS. Eventually I'll take this all the way to 10x, but it can only be enchanted with premium points or by merchants, so that might take a long time. But I don't mind; the additional +13 DS is basically immaterial and there's no rush for +12 AS.
  • Slabs - I still have razern, white ora, faenor, and vaalorn slabs lying around and I'm always tossing money at slab generators chasing after metals way more rare than these... so I never know what'll strike my fancy!

Artisan skills

In the skill of forging - crafting, you are a master with 500 ranks.
In the skill of forging - [[::Edged_Weapons|one handed edged]], 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 forging - brawling weapons, you are an apprentice 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]].