Marissa was the odd one out of her family from the day she was born. Pale skin and light hair caused the family of red-heads and brunettes to assume that she was an albino. They took the new baby to their resident Shaman, who concluded that she had inherited the vulpes zerda genes that her father carried. Content that they didn't have to abandon or drown the new infant, they gave her the name 'Marissa', a rather human-sounding name for a unique Vulpinian.

As Marissa grew older, she showed no interest in being a ranger or scout like the rest of her family. Since she had 3 older brothers who were natural hunters and scouts, her father (Tiptoe Fennix), was happy enough to let Marissa pursue her own dreams and fantasies.

Her mother (Swift Fennix) taught Marissa about the herbs and medicines of the forest. How to check for serious wounds or illnesses, stop a wound from bleeding excessively and prevent infection from taking hold. It was useful information that Marissa practised on her brothers regularly since they often came back from the forest with scrapes and the odd rash from a poisonous plant.

Besides that, it turned out that Marissa had more to her than just being able to mix medicines and bandage a scratch. At the age of 7, she began to have vicious night terrors. She would wake in the middle of the night screaming fighting off phantoms. Tiptoe and Swift tried everything they could to calm her down and wake her from the nightmares. They took her back to the Shaman who said that these nightmares were a sign. That's all the Shaman said. Just a vague answer that offered no closure or even a direction on where to take things next.

Marissa decided to take matters into her own hands. If the nightmares were signs, then what exactly did they mean? By the age of 10, she had started to ask the Shaman about interoperating dreams, which led to the topic of Oneiromancy. That caught Marissa's attention and she tried to gather all the information she could about the magic. There was more to it than just figuring out what dreams meant...

Once she had exhausted her Tribe's resources on Oneiromancy and healing, Marissa wanted to leave her tribe in pursuit of more knowledge. At this point, she had turned 14. Her mother hated the idea of her precious, only daughter leaving the tribe, especially at an age where she was maturing physically; worried that slavers would capture her. The pair of them argued very often about the idea of Marissa leaving the tribe. Once she turned 15, her father stepped into the debate and said that he thought it would be good for her to learn more about her dreams. (She was still having night terrors, but they had gotten better with age.) He said that the only places she was going to acquire more resources were outside; beyond the forest and that other families let their youngens explore past the forest. Swift eventually, begrudgingly agreed to the journey but on the insistence that she left with a strong companion and that Marissa would write often.

So Marissa began to travel with a scruffy Vulpinian named Badger. (It was a nickname he had picked up.) She got along with him very well. He was a good listener but not a very good talker. As the years went by, Marissa had learned how to stop her nightmares from being night terrors; she learnt how to read them and subdue them. She could give herself sweeter dreams and even help others who suffered from night terrors. Of course, she never forgot her medicines and herbs; as she travelled, she explored and discovered all sorts of flora she had never heard of before! She studied under various Healers depending on what town she was in, watching and comparing how each of them treated different injuries or symptoms. She always welcomed advice and eventually was able to give advice back, spreading different medicines and techniques.

It was at the age of 22 that Marissa and Badger finally came to the Free States, home of the Mages Guild. Feeling immediately at home, Marissa dived straight into her work and found joy in helping wanna-be adventures. She sold potions or patched up guild members after a mission.

A year later, Badger had left on a quick quest to gather very specific herbs and ingredients for Marissa. He never returned. Unable to fight off an attack by herself if she went searching for him, Marissa spent her coins on a contract with the Adventurer's Guild hoping a party woule be able to track Badger down. She tried to gather information on her own in the meantime but could not get any leads. It could have been anything that took or killed him; bandits, slavers, animals etc. Frustrated that the searches were bearing no fruit and with her coin-purse depleting quickly as she resorted to paying under the table for extra adventurers, Marissa now wants to find a group or at least another person she can join with to explore the shadier parts of the realm in hopes that Badger IS still alive and CAN be saved. She just needs to practice oneiromancy a little more and then maybe...