Name: Elowen Strandholme
Race: Half-elf
Class: Paladin
Order: Champion of the Divine Right
Oath: Humility
Vow: Courage
Elowen. Daughter of Yakob. Half-elf. Loved. That is all she knew of herself until adolescence, as her father raised her among the small unnamed Hamlet along the Ithal Road. There are two things that are common to all children, however - observations and questions.
“Who was my mother?” was a common one for poor Yakub. The craftsman would gently answer “She was Beauty.”
While selling their wares to travelers on the Ithal Road; “Was she kind?”
“Too kind.”
And so she grew into a young woman along the Ithal Road, loved by her hamlet but never feeling a part of them. Half of her was out there after all. She tended to the travelers, dreaming that one may have been her mother. Not that she would have known.
Treat them all thusly, though, and if the two happened to meet even in passing then her mother would think well of the unknown, promising young Elowen.
Elowen found her service rewarding. She found purpose in the dream that each passing merchant or lordship may know her by her kindness to them, and that they may show some small quantity of grace in return.
The Time of Troubles and the Longest Year had little impact for her tiny rural community, who would only infrequently see the direct results of the supremely magical world around them.
Then the civil unrest took hold within Tethyr, leaving the Ithal Road’s traffic sparse, save for hard-beaten caravans, refugees, unfortunates, and those that would prey on them. Elowen still did her best with what she could, though her father - advancing in age now - could no longer assist. She spent many days and nights working for the rich - terrible and kind alike - in exchange for alms which she could distribute to the poor.
As much as she knew she must do this work for these oft-greedy masters, she felt no calling in it. Not until she found herself in the service of one Ser Sarvyn Trueblood as his company rested near her hamlet for several nights.
She was delighted by the grizzled old veteran’s empathy for the poor souls who seemed to endlessly trickle by. Moreover, she was awed by the example he set. As she begged for alms, he made it his business to be nearby. He, a true Champion of the Divine Right, wielded his position like a scalpel to intimidate, legitimize, and further her purposes at every step.
In his service, by virtue of his righteousness and legitimacy alike, she found her ability to aid the refugees expanded beyond her dreams.
This is what it means to serve. Serving the right master is serving the people, and a right master serves the people through their servants. With that virtue beating in her chest, Elowen knew she could not linger in the hamlet any more. Righteousness was out there, and it beckoned her to ensure it had all the hands it needed.
She would not leave without her father’s blessing, which he was all too willing to give. Both of them wept with joy and loss. As a farewell gift to his only daughter, he presented the sole keepsakes of her mother that were left to him: A set of letters from the elven merchant describing her tryst with Yakub. The language used was one of love and adoration. And fear. For her mother was wed to another. A powerful and spiteful elf. And so Elowen must be kept secret or it could destroy all three of them. The letters were signed only “J” and “Y”.
Several years have passed in the service and training of The Champions of the Divine Right as Tethyr needed the guiding hand of Siamorphe more than ever. Elowen, now Elowen Strandholme, had seen and learned much of the world, and felt amazed joy at even the small returnings of magic. Now, with the Tethyran throne reaching stability, Sarvyn Trueblood has finally heard Elowen’s Oath and Vow and sent her forth to Amn to serve what Righteousness might be found, with Humility and Courage.
Race: Half-elf
Class: Paladin
Order: Champion of the Divine Right
Oath: Humility
Vow: Courage
Elowen. Daughter of Yakob. Half-elf. Loved. That is all she knew of herself until adolescence, as her father raised her among the small unnamed Hamlet along the Ithal Road. There are two things that are common to all children, however - observations and questions.
“Who was my mother?” was a common one for poor Yakub. The craftsman would gently answer “She was Beauty.”
While selling their wares to travelers on the Ithal Road; “Was she kind?”
“Too kind.”
And so she grew into a young woman along the Ithal Road, loved by her hamlet but never feeling a part of them. Half of her was out there after all. She tended to the travelers, dreaming that one may have been her mother. Not that she would have known.
Treat them all thusly, though, and if the two happened to meet even in passing then her mother would think well of the unknown, promising young Elowen.
Elowen found her service rewarding. She found purpose in the dream that each passing merchant or lordship may know her by her kindness to them, and that they may show some small quantity of grace in return.
The Time of Troubles and the Longest Year had little impact for her tiny rural community, who would only infrequently see the direct results of the supremely magical world around them.
Then the civil unrest took hold within Tethyr, leaving the Ithal Road’s traffic sparse, save for hard-beaten caravans, refugees, unfortunates, and those that would prey on them. Elowen still did her best with what she could, though her father - advancing in age now - could no longer assist. She spent many days and nights working for the rich - terrible and kind alike - in exchange for alms which she could distribute to the poor.
As much as she knew she must do this work for these oft-greedy masters, she felt no calling in it. Not until she found herself in the service of one Ser Sarvyn Trueblood as his company rested near her hamlet for several nights.
She was delighted by the grizzled old veteran’s empathy for the poor souls who seemed to endlessly trickle by. Moreover, she was awed by the example he set. As she begged for alms, he made it his business to be nearby. He, a true Champion of the Divine Right, wielded his position like a scalpel to intimidate, legitimize, and further her purposes at every step.
In his service, by virtue of his righteousness and legitimacy alike, she found her ability to aid the refugees expanded beyond her dreams.
This is what it means to serve. Serving the right master is serving the people, and a right master serves the people through their servants. With that virtue beating in her chest, Elowen knew she could not linger in the hamlet any more. Righteousness was out there, and it beckoned her to ensure it had all the hands it needed.
She would not leave without her father’s blessing, which he was all too willing to give. Both of them wept with joy and loss. As a farewell gift to his only daughter, he presented the sole keepsakes of her mother that were left to him: A set of letters from the elven merchant describing her tryst with Yakub. The language used was one of love and adoration. And fear. For her mother was wed to another. A powerful and spiteful elf. And so Elowen must be kept secret or it could destroy all three of them. The letters were signed only “J” and “Y”.
Several years have passed in the service and training of The Champions of the Divine Right as Tethyr needed the guiding hand of Siamorphe more than ever. Elowen, now Elowen Strandholme, had seen and learned much of the world, and felt amazed joy at even the small returnings of magic. Now, with the Tethyran throne reaching stability, Sarvyn Trueblood has finally heard Elowen’s Oath and Vow and sent her forth to Amn to serve what Righteousness might be found, with Humility and Courage.
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