I don’t remember much about my birth parents, I only know what I have been told by others. My father, Kalias was raised among the high moon elves to be calculated and ruthless. I was told the only soft spot he ever had or showed was for my mother, Adrietta, a high sun elf. Adrietta was known to be much kinder than my father. Their marriage was arranged as a way to form an alliance between the sun and moon elves and shortly after they would give birth to a daughter, me. 

My earliest memory is of my birth mother, Adrietta. She was singing a lullaby to help me sleep, it was one I knew very well- a popular tune among high elves. I remember her features vaguely (tan skin, black hair and gold eyes) but the memory sometimes feels cloudy like a dream. My next earliest memory is being awoken in the night and carried away by rogue elves.

One of the rogue woodland elves who saved me from my predestined fate as a high lords daughter is Tulsi. As someone who was never able to bear a child, she happily raised me as one of her own and is the closest person I have to a real mother. She is also the one who first started calling me Arie, which is short for my birth name Araelia. Tulsi, like everyone in our village, is a rogue woodland elf. She is tough skinned, loud and not one to sit down or stay back. You can always find Tulsi where the action is and she never forgets to bring her sense of humor with her.   

I don’t remember a lot from the early years of my childhood, but as I grew up I remember feeling happy and free as I adapted to a new life in my village of Green Haven. Nestled into the forest of Gardinia, hidden by magic we lived as one with nature as the woodland ancestors intended. The rogue elder elves taught us children the ways of our people- the pillars of our community: Honor, Integrity, Pride and Justice. They taught us about the dangers that lurked within the extravagant walls of the wealthy, the high elves castles. We learned that the high elves (like my birth parents) think themselves better than other elves and choose to live a life full of greed and gluttony. In order to live like this they take freely from those around them and offer little in return. We were taught that it was our mission as rogue elves to find ways to humble them and bring justice and balance for our people.

They never hid from me the reality of where I came from- who I came from. I was told the story countless times. It was an early morning in the spring when one of our own, a beloved leader in our village, Martise, and his prodigy and son, Boden, went to meet with a group of high lord elves, one of which was my father, Kalias. This meeting was intended to be a show of good faith in establishing a new treaty in the area, one that would allow our people more land and freedom. The meeting quickly turned into a battle as the high elves used magic to hide their soldiers who attacked Martise and Boden as well as the other rogue elves who accompanied them. They fought against them as well as they could despite being outnumbered. Several died, including Martise’s son, Boden. Martise was one of those who returned, but is said to have never been the same after that day, after the death of his only son. He swore great vengeance upon the high elves, specifically the one who yielded the fatal blow to his son- my father, Kalias. Years later when news of Kalias’s newborn child spread, Martise saw an opportunity for justice. An eye for an eye. A child for a child. They would take me, save me from a life of corruption and raise me as one of their own. 

My closest friends growing up were Hedrick and Elise. They were twins, but you would never guess this by their personalities as they were total opposites. Our elders used to call us the triplets since we were so close. Elise was the fierce leader of our group, always protective of me and Hedrick to the other kids in our village. As an outsider at first I was not always welcomed by our peers. In the beginning I remember being bullied by the others for coming from a high lord family. But once I met Elise she quickly put them in their place and we were inseparable ever since. Hedrick on the other hand was quiet and introverted. He had a softness and calm to him, but one that shouldn’t be mistaken for weakness. He was calculated and pragmatic- always taking note of the world around him and had a knack for meticulously planning out our mischievous childhood adventures. The three of us were always up to something whether it was planning out pretend heists or making elaborate identities to trick newcomers. I always felt a sense of belonging within our village, but I'd be lying if I said there wasn’t a small part of me that felt drawn to somewhere else entirely. 

As I grew older, my magic grew stronger. I was trained along with a few others in my cohort including Elise and Hedrick by an elder rogue elf named Peren. He always had a calm demeanor and although he was never cruel, he wasn’t afraid to push us when we needed it. We spent countless hours over the years practicing magic, archery, combat skills, setting traps and even lockpicking. We were also required to learn the thieves cant in our studies (code/jargon/signals) in order to communicate messages to each other that most others would not understand. Elise, Hedrick and I used to create our own hand signals so we could secretly message each other in classes. Half the time we would end up giving it away by giggling out loud and Peren would give us one of his famous “really, this again?” type looks. 

The Quest 

Ryn does not like to talk about this as it was one of the worst experiences of her life

It is tradition in my village that as one enters into adulthood (100 years old) they must first succeed in a quest. The quest was not something taken lightly as some who set off on them, never returned back. The quest was given to me prior to my 100th birthday along with a handful of others in our village including Elise and Hedrick. The quest involved breaking into a high lord’s castle to free two rogue elf prisoners from our village who were recently captured. We were given the layout and instructions on best points of entry as well as the guards rotations. That night we packed our chosen weapons and headed off on our quest. 

We arrived outside the castle at the darkest point of night. Elise and another in our group, Nym scouted the area and cleared it before we all made our way to the southeast side of the castle wall. We watched from the treeline as the guard by the nearest entrance left to make his rounds. Nym and the other in our group, Thalia, stayed back to lookout and protect us from high in the trees as Hedrick, Elise and I ran to the small iron door and quickly used our tools to pick the lock. Only seconds later we were inside a tunneled hallway with several turns ahead of us. We had the layout of the castle memorized by this point and within a few turns were met with the prisoner quarters. We were not aware of exactly where our allies were being kept as there were several doors, but we quickly used the thieves cant to locate them. 

The lock on the prison door took longer to pick than anticipated and I started to become anxious about the guards' return. When we finally opened the door we were met with one male and one female elves who looked very worn down and beaten, but obviously relieved to see us. We caught them up with our plan of escape and began making our way back through the tunnels to the exit. Just as we approached we heard footsteps outside and my heart dropped to my stomach. 

We had two options: continue with this exit, kill the guard and run for the treeline or go to the next closest exit which also required us to go deeper into the castle. I looked at Elise and Hedrick not feeling sure enough to make the decision. Elise spoke first and suggested it was too risky to go to a new exit and volunteered  herself to exit first and kill the guard. Hedrick looked unsure about this decision and argued against her saying he should go first, but she insisted. This felt like a big deal at the time, as none of us had ever killed another elf before. We gave each other a long look before Elise opened the door swiftly and raised her bow toward the guard. He was faced away but quickly turned around at the sound. Elise hesitated for a split second, enough for him to let out a warning, before she let the arrow fly into him. 

We all raced for the treeline as fast as we could, but could already hear more guards approaching quickly. We were halfway there when arrows soared toward us. We dodged several before I felt one graze by my shoulder. Thalia and Nym were already retaliating with their arrows shooting back to the guards, one I could already hear finding its target. My heart pounded as I focused in on the treeline now only a few paces away. We were so close. But that’s when I heard her scream. Elise’s scream. 

My head immediately looked back and I could see she was struck by an arrow in her back. Before I could even react Hedrick was already there picking her up. He was half carrying her when I then steadied my bow and shot arrow after arrow towards the guards as they made their way past me towards safety. Together we all receded in the treeline, before Hedrick picked Elise up fully to carry her. We went as far as we could, before we felt safe enough to stop. At that point Elise was falling into unconsciousness in Hedrick’s arms. He laid her down on her side and we assessed her wound. I quickly used a cloth to press against the punctured area, but she already lost a lot of blood and It was at that moment I knew we were about to lose her. that I was about to lose my best friend. Hedrick and I both held her hand. Tears burned my cheeks and I held onto sobs as I tried to tell her everything would be okay. Hedrick said no words, only placed his forehead onto hers and laid next to her. In her last moments as her breaths got slower, she held up her hand into a sign (three of her fingers folding over her thumb), one of the codes we made up in our pretend thieves cant. It meant, the three of us together, always. And it was the last thing she ever said to us. 

Adulthood 

It was my 100th birthday when I picked out my new name, Rynn. This was tradition for us elves and to me it represented a new beginning; an opportunity to make a new life for myself as an adult. Ever since Elise’s death, things in our village felt different. I felt different. The person that I was so tied to and intertwined with for my entire life was now gone and I felt like part of me died with her. I was reminded of her everywhere I went and the part of me that was here just seemed so lost in grief. It was this that drove me to my decision to leave our village. I needed an escape, an adventure, something to make me feel a sense of belonging again. It was hard saying goodbye to Tulsi, but she knew me and she knew I needed to do this.  It felt even harder saying goodbye to Hedrick who had barely even spoken for months after Elise’s death, but I promised him this goodbye was not permanent and  we would always find our way back to each other. Not long after I packed my bag with the essentials and left my village, not knowing what was to come, but hoping to find what I needed somewhere along the way.

Summary of Rynn's experience after leaving her village: 

Rynn travels from town to town taking odd jobs in exchange for shelter/food and makes short term friends along the way. From another traveler she hears there is a ship called “The Wandering Star” setting sail for new lands in a few days time. She is intrigued by this and makes her way to the coast in hopes to board this ship and set sail on a new adventure. She plans to work on board as a kitchen hand or cleaner to pay for her voyage. 

Since the quest where Rynn lost her best friend, Elise, she has become more guarded when it comes to making long-term friendships and overall more independent minded. However she is still young and can be a bit naive since she has little experience outside of where she grew up. Ultimately despite her independent demeanor/attitude Rynn feels a bit lost and unsure of who she is and is hopeful that this new adventure will give her clarity and a new understanding about herself.