Leafiara (prime)
Leafiara Autumnwind 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 attack with absolutely anything at her disposal--warding magic, bolt spells, two handed weapons, [[::brawling|her own hands and feet]], or simply being a snooping [[::Category:TownCrier|TownCrier]] reporter--to protect her loved ones.
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[[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 rose-patterned locket, a bold red musical note-shaped locket, a mazerine angora cape fastened with a diamond snowflake pin, a platinum and emerald ivy leaf, a crested hawk charm, a honey beryl note symbol inset with tiny water sapphires, a white silk tote patterned with sewing needles along a musical staff slung over her 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, some silver and gold filigree bells, a pure white silk instrument case with a bold red leaf-shaped latch, a soft grey textured sash, 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, 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 husband's 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 not stay after their daughter was of age according to his own human standards.
And so, several months later, Fiara was born in the sylvan forests, rare enough to be a half-sylvan and rarer still that her human father was there.
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: "You're our little leaf, Fiara, who must one day fall from these trees..."
Her husband, who had walked in without her noticing, tried to lighten the mood: "What's this, not even two weeks old and now 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, Leafiara grew up in her earliest years 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 killed her instantly and unexpectedly, leaving a large hole through her midsection.
There were no known witnesses to the event and to this day Leafiara doesn't know what happened; it might have been an injured wild boar goring her on its tusk, an unusually prejudiced sylvan firing an arrow and then 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, Leafiara found her most defined role 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 Leafiara's personality, profession, race, or even gender would be next time she stepped on the stage.
Leafiara was not as unlimited an actress as audiences came to think, however. 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 better if her love interest was female. She could only successfully portray a villain if the character was comedic, over-the-top, or secretive and conspiratorial. 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.
Coverup and Fallout
[coming soon... probably]
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
- Excitement in everyday life
- Recognition of heroic deeds
- Staying young at heart
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't wear long sleeves, pants, or heavy shoes (like boots) for long without feeling uncomfortable and out of harmony with nature
- Does not swear even "mildly"
- Has a somewhat limited vocabulary, despite her more eloquent mother's best efforts
- Romanticizes the heroism of knights as they're presented in plays, but pragmatically thinks spies are more important for protecting the innocent
Affiliations
- Guildmaster of the Cleric Guild
- Master in the Order of Voln
- Contact for the Scions of Shaundara
- Wehnimer's Landing correspondent for the [[::Category:TownCrier|TownCrier]]
- Advisor and Public Relations liason 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 populace to turn 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 the town and root out snipers using herself as bait.
The conflict escalated as Leafiara 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, Leafiara approached the blood expert Cruxophim with an offer to find half-elven blood donors for his study in efforts to find a cure. She at first eagerly supplied donors and samples to Cruxophim, all the while fired up and repelling Chaston's crusaders in their attacks on both the Landing and Vornavis as needed, but backed off with her blood collection efforts several weeks later after hearing certain unconfirmed reports about his 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 risky, self-sacrificial plan to draw out snipers, Leafiara thought of infiltrating the camps under the guise of a prisoner, but before she could propose it to the militia she was captured and taken into the camps legitimately. There 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 few days 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 complete her work with blood marble before releasing them.
Though shaken from these experiences, Leafiara eventually made a full recovery from her trauma with the support of Severine and other friends and joined with dozens of Landing defenders aiding Rodnay in destroying Chaston's mental powers 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, from which Leafiara seems to be fully recovered--though several months later Dennet Kestrel would raise concern over whether this is truly the case.
Aftermath
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 Leafiara, 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.
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, she became self-conscious about being seen as physically weak and ultimately put off those studies to rededicate herself toward greater physical strength.
Despite learning about Cruxophim's past, Leafiara eventually reconciled with him and trusted that he had changed after noticing that, when Chaston had thrown waves of mind-controlled children at adventurers in Talador to activate the obelisk, Cruxophim had not been among those who slaughtered them.
Keeping up with the Kestrels
[coming soon... probably]