Millraven is the star of the only series of stories I have (Thus far) been able to knuckle down and finish. She's also the product of a long standing funny piece of Dungeons and Dragons trivia. In the original version of the game there were no races outside of human. There was however an Elf class. This class is basically what we'd know as a Fighter/Mage dual class later on, but in the first edition was the only character capable of mixing both spells and swordplay. Millraven is an extension of this as she is racially an elf who has taken the old Elf character class.
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Millraven was born to Royal Guards Kestrel and Jackdaw Finn Izzle after the banishment of the Arikron family from the Sylvan kingdom. Loyal to a fault they agreed to follow the former royal family in to exile rather than live peacefully under the new regime. They eventually followed the former king and queen to the small town of Lynch where the displaced royalty had a modest manor. Once they were settled in Kestrel took over leadership of the city guard and Jackdaw went into horticulture. He would use a combination crossbreeding and enchanting to create hardier crops with higher yields for the local farmers.
Both Elves were popular in the town and beyond. Their fame would entice the larger cities to send their guards to Kestrel for training and farmers and merchants would come from as far away as Hightower city to consult with Jackdaw. Both the elves and those around them were nearly overcome with joy when Kestrel revealed she was with child. Elven pregnancies were extremely rare and both males and females had high rates of infertility. The burgeoning family received many gifts and blessings to help the new life they were bringing into the world.
Millraven was born ( and subsequently named) in a new flour mill that Jackdaw had been building. She was a healthy, bright eyed and beautiful baby girl. She was a happy child, raised for many years in her idyllic little town without a care in the world.
Then the revolution came. The merchants, bankers and career politicians that had taken over the Sylvan kingdom had driven it to ruin with their greed. The elves who had exiled the royal family began to look back on their former rulers with fond eyes. They found, however, that the former rulers had discovered that living without the pressure of ruling had suited them just fine. They refused to try and retake the throne. They escaped from Lynch, imploring Kestrel and Jackdaw to protect them. They were in danger, not only from the elves that were angered by their refusal to take back the throne, but also from the Sylvan council's hired assassins. They would be pursued over many thousands of miles over the next fifteen years.
It was during this decade and a half of being a fugitive that Millraven was trained to defend herself. Her mother taught her how to wield a sword and wear armor comfortably. Her father taught her how to cast spells and look to the world around her for power and defense. Millraven was a natural at the disciplines of both fighting and magic, soon matching her teachers in both skill sets. She was also rebellious and rambunctious.
The constant secrecy of their travels wore on her and the refusal of both her parents and the royal family to stand and fight against their attackers infuriated her. After a few more years of wandering with the exiled royals Millraven grew tired of it all and struck out on her own to return to Lynch. Once she was there she joined the local branch of the adventurer's guild. She had no idea, however, whether she would register herself as a fighter or a wizard.
It turns out that she need not have worried about choosing one title over another. It turns out that before Elves revealed themselves to humankind an injured hero came to Lynch to recover from his wounds. During his recovery a band of orcs attacked the small town and the hero went out of his way to put the marauding monsters down using a combination of both spells and steel. When asked who he was and how he came by his amazing abilities the hero simply replied that he was an elf. Not knowing about other races at the time the grateful villagers assumed it was the hero's job and entered it into the class book for their guild. Thus Millraven followed in her mysterious forebearer's footsteps and became an Elf, who was also an elf.
Millraven is now a Journeyman adventurer, working toward her master's badge. Mastery is earned by going out into the world, solving problems, exploring new paths, clearing old paths and gathering wealth and master adventurers are often hailed as heroes and allowed to begin their own guild halls as a form of semi-retirement.
Millraven is currently travelling with the enterprising halfling scout/cleric Bran Anlace. She knows she has many years of adventuring ahead of her and hopes to build a party of stalwart companions around her as she does.
Millraven is a full Sylvan Elf and stands exactly 5'0" tall ( About 152 centimeters) and weighs about 85 lbs. (About 35kg). She has long, charcoal black hair that falls just beyond her shoulder blades in thick, bouncy curves. She has a deep, nutty tan skin tone and the standard long, pointed ears of her race. (Hers are about 5 inches long) She has sparkling hazel eyes. She wears a grey tunic under a mithril coat and has recently taken to wearing a long black skirt with steel tassets around the hips. She carries a saber belted to her left hip, and a simple straight dagger belted to her right hip. She carries an unstrung bow and quiver of 30 arrows on her back. At this time she does not have a dedicated staff. Under her skirt she wears unbleached cotton bloomers and knee high black leather boots with steel greaves attached to the fronts.
Millraven has a slim, but curvaceous build. Long in the leg, and with a medium sized bust. She has a strong face that often wears a friendly, but determined expression. She rarely, if ever wears cosmetics, preferring to let her natural features do the talking for her. Her current goal is to attain the rank of Master adventurer and gather a sizable nestegg toward eventually finding a life partner and starting a family of her own. She is prepared to work at this goal for decades and is in no hurry to find a permanent mate. In the meantime she is happy to find adventure, and have the companionship of those she meets through her life's journey. Wherever that may take her.
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