Elaerina

[Liabo Circle, Meditation Garden]
Elaerina begins playing a soft song on her lute. She smiles shyly, but with a hint of merriment in her eyes, as she begins to speak.

"So ye want to hear about me life? Well, tis nae so grand as others ye may encounter in this hall, but ye asked, so I will gladly tell ye me story.

Me childhood was one filled with love and happiness, if nae fulfillment. Me Da was a herder, and me Mum a mercenary o’ some renown. We lived north o’ Citadel in the mountains. Me Da was a softhearted fellow who could nae say no to a soul in need, so me house was always filled to bursting with this orphan or that. Some stayed for days, some for weeks, and some for years. Me foster siblings brought merriment to our house, and I was nae’r lonely.

Although I tried, I could nae follow in me parents’ footsteps. Me heart was nae in fighting, and herding meant too many lonely days. One day me Da found me sitting at the top of a tall cliff, the gaks that were me charge forgotten and milling in the vale below. Tears were streaming down me cheeks as me voice rang in song through the crags. Saying naught, me Da held me while I sang, then dried me eyes and took me home.

Twer not long after that when me Mum told me I had to leave. She feared that the Empire would nae be safe for our sort much longer. She had found the address o’ a Troubadour in the faraway town o’ Wehnimer’s Landing, and had arranged for me passage there with a merchant. On the day o’ me departure me Da hugged me fiercely and me Mum looked me in the eye. ‘Follow yer dreams with honor, lass, always honor," she whispered. Tis been me code ever since.

Sadly, the merchant was an evil fellow. Just south of Wehnimer’s Landing his henchmen overpowered me, took all me belongings (even me clothes!), bound me and left me for dead. I would surely have died had not a young dwarf named Trandle Flintwheel found me. Averting his eyes, he draped his cloak over me shoulders and took me to town. There, he bought me clothes, food and equipment, and showed me where I might find training in song. I will forever be in debt to this kind soul. Perhaps one day I will sing ye the song I wrote in his honor.

In Wehnimer’s Landing I have found joy. I train daily in song, and ye can often find me in this garden playing me lute. In Voln’s quest to unbind the servants of Luukos I have finally found a cause worth fighting for, and in House Onoir I have found the honor that brings meaning to me life. Shortly after me arrival in the Landing I received word that I was to marry Hypochondrius, as me elders felt they needed to "keep the lass out of trouble in the big city". What started as a marriage o’ convenience has
blossomed into love, and I am well pleased. In short, in this great rough town, I have found fulfillment.

There is but one sorrow in me life, and it is my hope that ye, me friend, can help me with this. I have nae heard from me parents in over two years, and I fear for them, what with the news we hear from the Empire. If ye have cause to travel to Citadel, please look up Garhennah and Ellodaghn Cragsinger. Give them me love. I’m sure they will have a warm fire in the hearth, a soft bed, and a good meal to send ye on yer way."

With a final strum, Elaerina stills the strings, and puts her lute away.