A F A R E N E
“Most of all, trust yourself.”
Afarene Taranau
A G E
164
A P P E A R A N C E
Much like her mother had in her lifetime, Afarene exhibits an appearance that is not short of a confident defiance alongside the natural appealing look of the high elves of Aith Anur; this extends to the boldness of her fiery strands of red hair that is said to be accented well by her almost icy eyes. But Afarene’s strength does not solely persist within her elvish glares and conventional appearance— this also holds true in her athletic build that has its share of scars that tell the story of a woman that has survived for a long time and done so with resilience. Ultimately, standing at five foot four places Afarene at a height that is shorter than the tallest of her kind but comfortably remains among the median average; some could consider her on the shorter end of height ranges, but she doesn’t think much of the fact.
R A C E
Grey Elf
D I E T Y
Lyriel, Elven Goddess of Life
P E R S O N A L I T Y
In these dark times it certainly is hard to look forward with hope, faith, and courage— a fact that is abundantly clear within the spirit of Afarene Taranau. With the weight of the cataclysm of Aith Anur two hundred and fifty-one years ago and the cataclysm of New Anur fifty-one years ago it isn’t all that surprising that Afarene’s personality has been forged as it has. But Afarene has not been a overcautious cynic for the entirety of her life as it was in her childhood that her disposition was the polar opposite with great reserves of faith in the gods and hope for the future despite the calamity that had marked a great stain upon the souls of her species. Afarene looks back at such emotions as naïve with the knowledge she holds now although she covets them with much secretive nostalgia. After all, with the world exponentially at risk of the dead consuming it who wouldn’t dream of the days when things didn’t feel as bleak?
Of course, Afarene is not defined simply by her nostalgic thoughts and cynical mainstays. Perhaps taking after the fiery resolve and tenacity of her mother it can be said that while Afarene is a cynic she is a temperamental and prideful cynic. Labelled by humankind with terms such as brazen, brash, impulsive, irrational, impudent, and petulant if there is one key trait brought out by her personality it is her ability to allow her emotions rule her mind. Seen as unorthodox by her fellow Grey Elf cousins, unpredictable by her Human acquaintances, and entertaining by her Dwarven patrons it is clear that Afarene doesn’t have entirely conventional elven mannerisms; a fact that has distanced her at times with feelings that she is alien to the world at large. But such feelings of distance is often reined in by her sense of elven pride and confidence which forges a trait also like her mother’s own— defiance.
S K I L L
Masterful
Archery
Skilled
Swordplay
Athletics
Adept
Survival
Brawling
Novice
Riding
Arcane Magic
T R A I T S
Elven Ranger — In high elven culture, the Saethydd were the wardens of the elven vanguard and served as rangers of the highest respects; as the terminology is archaic it is also apt to describe Afarene. The young Grey Elf comes from a line of Saethydd or “Elven Rangers” as humankind has described them and was put through similar training as her mother, Idryane, had.
Nomad — When New Anur fell it was a time where Afarene was just leaving adolescence and arriving at early adulthood thus the impact of the cataclysmic event was great. For many years she would take to traveling further away from what was left of the center of her culture thus it was here that Afarene was introduced not only to humankind but also of the comfortability in many subcultures and environments where she would form few long-lasting friendships.
Perceptive — Afarene has in the past been described as being astute and perceptive even among her own kind; a sort of effect of her upbringing as a Saethydd. This extends to her agile sort of unarmed fighting that the elves called Agorpalf (roughly translated to “Open Palm”) where perception and reflex is required over strength and vigor.
Survivalist — Afarene feels comfortable in all forms of woodland and frontier areas. Knowing what flowers are toxic or beneficial as well as how to find the right path to a herd of animals or bandits, Afarene is a born ranger and due to her longevity as a product of her race has an extensive knowledge of several forests upon the continent she was raised upon. If there is a branch unturned that she isn’t familiar with it would be a surprise to her.
B A C K S T O R Y
Afarene Taranau was born in New Anur in the year of 1088 to two survivors of Aith Anur, Idryane, and an unknown father.
As a grey elf, Afarene’s childhood was essentially a mundane existence that lasted for a hundred years. Much like other children of survivors of the old civilization of Aith Anur, the history of the elves was important for Afarene to learn, especially in the shadow of what could be the genocide of the high elves as not only a civilization and culture but as a people. Her mother taught Afarene poetry, history, religion, philosophy, and song alongside her martial training as hope that Afarene would do the same when it came time to continue their line. It would be with diligence that Afarene took to this education with eagerness and passion; part of which was due to her idolization of her mother whom effectively raised herself and her twin brother, Gwydion, without the presence of their father whom she refused to name.
Following in her mother’s footsteps, Afarene took up the training to become a Saethydd within the confines of New Anur’s domain; a pursuit that even with the support and aid of her mother’s own hand in her training that would take many years to achieve. As she worked forward in this manner her brother decided to take a different approach as he worked to aspire for not one goal in his life but two— to study under the finest elven magi and become a student under them, and work towards becoming an emissary of the grey elves towards the other races as he viewed that without peaceful union that conflict would soon to arise as New Anur slowly expanded upon the northern reaches of the continent. Whilst both of the siblings were competent in magecraft, it would be Gwydion who would realize it beyond the trappings of “latent talent”; two different children with different aspirations. Aspirations they would reach in time.
The principal moment in Afarene’s life that changed it was the loss of all she had left as not only a grey elf but as a daughter. In the year of 1211, the shadows of the sins of their ancestors revealed themselves to the world when the gates of the shining coffin swung open and the damned began to consume as well as destroy. She had been on the far reaches of what could be considered the territory of New Anur when the full force of the dead reached her people and by extension her mother as well. New Anur could not be saved from her hands alone, though at times the longing of a wish that she had perished alongside her mother would cross her heart would persist; an insufferable feeling. But she had to survive and utilizing her skills as a Saethydd she continued to do so as she pushed away from where New Anur’s territory once was as other survivors did just the same. This elven exodus was not seen favorably by the other races as humankind, dwarves, and others painted it as the “elven curse” that they had unleashed upon the world due to their own foolish hubris. Afarene had not been responsible for the existence of the Undying but in the years to come she would hear it in abundance.
For the years that followed, Afarene pushed further south into Northern Melfic as a means to survive; a place she would soon realize was the next apparent victim of the horde of undead that had destroyed New Anur only months prior. Such events would become known as The War of Ruin and Afarene found herself an unwilling participant in several conflicts as she moved from place to place within the northern stretches of the human kingdom. It was here that her nomadic sort of wayward lifestyle began to form as she began to realize that it was impossible to settle down back into a solitary area especially with the inevitable threat of the undead ever so present. As a Saethydd she was comfortable in the frontier hills and forests of the continent so it was there she would travel and survive; far away from northern Melfic.
Between the years of 1219 and 1246, Afarene had garnered a little bit of a reputation in various regions and communities despite racial prejudice often rearing its head. These long twenty-seven years of surviving, persevering, and pushing had grown her into a fine survivalist as well as marksman as she dealt with the rising degree of crime spurned on from the undead calamity that defined all of the races of the continent’s existence. To summarize all of her effective experiences over this course would be difficult considering the active ventures she found herself being involved with to not only keep herself sustainable and survive, but out of her moral need to live up to the memory of her mother despite her cynical ideologies Afarene had formed following the calamity that was the Fall of New Anur. Many times in the frontiers of Melfic and Naul Rahn she had been accosted by smallfolk and highborn alike— worried barons plagued by bandits, merchants needing passage through wilderness plagued by undead or criminals, peasant livelihoods at risk by dangerous dire beasts and monsters, and many other such events seemed to be the life that Afarene would now live and had to contend with quite actively. But with the peril of a potential genocide reaped by the Undying such exponential growth of conflict, paranoia, and crime the people growing restless is anything but inane.
But it was not to be forever.
But eventually Afarene’s nomadic existence seemed to settle down, somehow, when she found herself in the employ and service of Lord Tel Janin Silverblood, a situation that was effectively extended following her help in a situation pertinent to him in the year of 1246— sixteen years ago. For some reason Afarene found service a possible change where she didn’t have to force herself to push onward from forest to forest and village to village; even as an elf she didn’t want to admit the constance of the last twenty-seven years was wearing on her spirit. As it came to be, she reluctantly accepted, though she was unsure what her role in human nobility was to be given her particular skillset and race.
In the present day, several months ago after over five decades of putting distance between her and her past, Afarene found herself forced to engage with it when the appearance of a letter from her brother came into her hands. Gwydion had evidently become an emissary just as he aspired to in his youth despite it being under different circumstances. This letter urged her to join the effort to effective aide the Stalwart Alliance as he had and work with Duchess Aina Stormsparrow in bringing a final end and bringing peace to the ghosts of Aith Anur before it becomes too late. Reluctantly, Afarene considered the responsibilities she has relatively been trying to ignore and asks herself one question: What would her mother, Idryane Taranau do in the same scenario?
W E A P O N S + A R M O R
Thymestl — Afarene’s elven shortbow that has been known in elven history as a significant item that has generally been held in the hands of iconic and mythic elven heroes. It is a resilient and enduring bow that is masterfully crafted as can be expected by the high elves of Aith Anur and is said to be exceptionally lightweight as it is strong. However, Thymestl’s significance to Afarene is not in its iconic or legendary status but rather that it is one of the only things she has left following her mother’s passing a century ago.
Elven Twinblades — Also in Afarene’s inventory is a twin set of elven curved blades fashioned to serve as short swords; they are her only serviceable conventional melee weapons.
Afarene’s Armor — The last notable piece of Afarene’s equipment is her armor, a magically enchanted set of tough leather and cloth to protect any suitable ranger in combat situations yet light enough to allow the wearer to be more lithe and agile in the field. However, unlike Afarene’s twin daggers and bow the armor is not of elven make or design falling into more particular fashions of humankind.
O T H E R E Q U I P M E N T
Outside of her weapons and armor, the tools, trinkets, and affects within her disposal are quite small. As a survivalist and ranger she has the tools of a fletcher and hunter, the clothes on her back, and basic rations alongside camping affects such as flint and steel.
Member
Dae
mickilennial
ArkmageddonCat
Captain Uni
Lemons
Kuro
Asura