Fíriel Rínnan Astyëlinna - "She who walks in the mist of darkness with a shining bow"

[Elena]

Name
Firiel: "dark, darkness" (Fir) + "mist, misty" (iel) -> "Mist of Darkness"
Rinnan: "walker, walks" (Ri) + "to (go to a place)" (nae) + "female" (an) -> "She who walks (to)"
Astyelinna: "Fletcher, Bow" (As) + "crystal" (ty) + "bolt, ray" (linn) -> "Shining Bow"

Description
Strands of dark brown hair cascade around her shoulders like a veil of autumn leaves, framing a face marked by almond-shaped emerald eyes. They gleam with determination, reflecting the untamed spirit that courses through her veins. Clad in supple leather armor adorned with intricate elven motifs, she moves with fluid grace and quiet confidence of a woodland predator.

Age
121

Height
4′8″

Weight
90 lbs

Origin
Shilmista, Forest of Shadows

Patron Deity
Solonor Thelandira


Credit: https://anna-lakisova.com/

DALE RECKONING	EVENT
1248	Firiel is born the only child to Melian and Haleth, among a small elven community of Sy'Tel'Quessir located in the Shilmista Forest, led by Galladel, the king of Shilmista. Like the majority of wild elves, their group became isolated. They focused on survival techniques, forsaking many of their traditional elven skills like those of high magic, turning to a more primitive life.
1248 - 1320	Growing up in the remoteness of the Shilmista Forest and under the guidance of the tribe, Firiel learns to survive in the wild, and recognizes the interconnectedness of animals, plants and herself, as part of a system. The wild elves defend their seclusion uncompromisingly against intruders of all kinds: Goblinoids, humanoids and beasts of many kinds. It was during that time, when Firiel developped her bowskills, taught by the most skilled defenders of the Sy'Tel'Quessir, their Arcane Archers.
1320 - 1360	In the years from 1320 onwards, attacks from the neighboring Snowflake Mountains increased. Larger streams of goblins and plundering humans found their way to Shilmista and the existence of the wild elves was repeatedly threatened. These raids and attacks on the isolated community forced the Elven King Galladel to take increasingly serious measures, which were slowly reflected in the community's youth and manifested themselves in an underlying dislike of humans.
1361	With the support of the wizard Dorigen Kel Lamond and supported by the war forces of Castle Trinity, the Ogrillon Ragnor leads an invasion into Shilmista, causing great damage to the elves. The battle cost the lives of many, among others, the life of King Galladel. In long battles and skirmishes in which the elves were able to make use of their knowledge of the Shadow Forest, the invaders were gradually defeated, and Prince Elbereth became the new King.
1364	An envoy from Evermeet arrives in the remote community of King Elbereth with a request from Queen Amlaruill: Local elves who know the area should band together and kill the despoilers of the eastern Wealdath. Still in fear of another invasion, King Elbereth ordered only few elves, to help witht he restoration of the eastern Wealdath.
1369	After five years without news of the sent elves and without ever seeing any again, King Elbereth ordered to look for the Sy'Tel'Quessir from Shilmista. Therefore he chose capable young elves, including Firiel. They were sent to the Wealdath to search for their own...

 

[Elena]

Of King Galladel and the Mori'lanta

Young Galladel became a member of the elven faction Mori'lanta, a group of elves, specialized in reconnaissance. The name of their organizsation translates roughly into "The Dark Of The Night", which was their preferred time to start their operations. Galladel, who showed great talent in tailoring, fabricated many boots for fellow members of the Mori'lanta, and quickly they became known as Quilda Talalînen, the "Silent Feet". These linen boots first appeared during the Weeping War, which was a battle that culminated about 700 years from Dalereckoning when the Akh'Velahr - the army of Cormanthor - was waging war against the invading demon Army of Darkness, led by the Trio Nefarious - Yugoloths, commanding an army of Goblins, Orcs, Trolls and Gnolls from Thar.

Many members of the Mori'lanta fought in skirmishes, operating out of the shadows, and launched surprise attacks on the sieging fiends. They relentlessly kept diminishing the numbers of their enemies, though also at great costs. During three years of constant war, the leaders of both armies had been defeated and their numbers greatly diminished, leaving behind only scattered groups, who fought with little to no coordination. It was then, when the Army of Darkness pushed forward without tactics, only destruction in mind, and overran the city, burning and pillaging it entirely.

Only two hundred elves and allies out of the 3000 who remained behind to defend the city escaped and fled. Some spread out, all over the continent, some gathered and fought to their death and others fell during their getaway. Galladel one of the few survivors of the Mori'lanta, led less than thirty Sy'Tel'Quessir into the Shilmista Forest, where they became an isolated tribe and focused on their survival. Among them Melian and Haleth, who later were to have a daughter; Fíríel.

 

[Elena]

Few among the Circle remember the arrival of a young huntress who first crossed into the Wealdath in 1369 DR. She who had come from the forgotten wild elves of Shilmista, searching for those her people had sent years before, carrying little more than a bow, a quiet voice, and an unease around strangers that never left her to this day. She was ever one who watched more than she spoke, and many moons passed before some realized she possessed a voice at all. But.. the Wealdath changed her. The forest and those within taught her that isolation and solitude are not the same thing. Among wardens, druids, hunters and keepers of old lore, she found not another tribe to replace her own, but a people who carried the same burdens beneath different boughs.

To find her own, meant to first understand the Wealdath, its taint: The Scar.

When beasts bore the stain of the curse, her arrows found them swiftly. When travelers lost their way beneath the ancient canopy, she often watched unseen before revealing herself, weighing intent before offering guidance. Many remember first noticing her only by the faint sound of feet upon moss, or by the feeling that unseen eyes had measured their heart long before she stepped from the trees. Those closest to her came to understand that silence was never absence. It was simply the language she had learned before words.

Even fewer know that she is the granddaughter, in spirit if not by blood alone, of the Mori'lanta, the "Dark of the Night", whose survivors vanished into Shilmista after the fall of ancient Cormanthor. Yet those who have fought beside her sometimes remark upon familiar habits. The preference for darkness and shadows over daylight. The uncanny silence of her step. Though the years have softened some of the suspicion born from childhood, they have not diminished her devotion. Elven relics, forgotten shrines, hidden paths, and the quiet sanctity of the Wealdath remain causes for which she would willingly place herself between danger and those she calls kin. There are evenings, when the moon hangs low between the branches, that a quiet voice fills the Wealdath. It was the song her mother sang when Fíríel left Shilmista.


Beneath One Sky
All roads bend, and so must we,
like rivers part to meet the sea.
Wherever fate may bid you rove,
it cannot tear the bond we wove.

Moonlight knows the road you roam,
Solonor will guide you home.

May gentle dawns embrace your days,
and starlight shine upon your ways.
May joy find you, as did my love,
beneath the watching stars above.

Moonlight knows the road you roam,
Solonor will guide you home.

If ever longing fills your sigh,
know my thoughts will wander nigh.
Far apart, beneath one sky,
look to the stars, and so shall I.



Yet there is one thing even those closest to her cannot read.
Perhaps, like every road beneath the stars, the answer lies not in choosing, but in walking, until the heart no longer asks the question.