Elwena Astaurogon
From Valwiki
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| Player: | Elly. | |
| Title(s): | Healer, "innocent lil'elf". | |
| Age: | 92. | |
| Race: | Elven (Alkorian origin). | |
| Eye Color: | Blue. | |
| Hair: | Blond. | |
| Skin Tone: | Tanned. | |
| Height: | 5'6". | |
| Weight: | 120 lbs. | |
| Alignment: | Neutral Good. | |
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Relatives: Mira Nindermil (Elwena's daughter, by a former lover, adopted by Alkar), Cirdan Astaurogon (son), Ella Astaurogon (Daughter), Ainareal (Missing), Elanmel Stillwind (Adopted son)
Friends: Michi Xxian (best friend and sister-figure), Alyndriah Valarith (mentor, friend), Drakonis Veer (Sometimes friend, sometimes a stumbling block <<"), Daryl Unask (friend), Alkar Sonishva (Friend), Ronja Noku (friend), Erika Okibi (friend), Athairne Blackhall (friend), Diavolo (friend), Arthus Silverwind, Ebra Conaway
Personality
Elwena has been described as a very motherly individual; a warm, loving elf who would do all that she could for her family and friends. But few know the past that shaped her and the secrets that she holds within her heart. Though she is by nature the person that people describe her as, Elwena is very unsure of herself, always doubting her own abilities and taking the blame for so many things in her life.
Today, she is starting to change. Growing more confident in herself and her ability to protect her family, an issue that has haunted her for years, Elwena perseveres to better herself and hopefully by doing so, she will be able to help all who can be counted as her friends and allies.
Abilities
Healing Tears: Granted to her in a moment of despair, the tears are a gift from the gods to Elwena. They can heal small cuts and scraps almost instantly. For infections, the tears will cleanse out the wound. For major injuries, the tears will help slowly repair the wound, not much faster than regular herbal remedies. They cannot be bottled but *may potentially aid in the speed in how poultices work.
Quarterstaff: Let it be known that Elwena is rather adept with the quarterstaff. Although not a master of the weapon, she can defend herself with it quite nicely.
Due to a conversation with a certain drow, Sornilzt Qualnryn, Elwena was granted an extended life by a century.
Having also various ways about her to survive alone, Elwena was indeed trained to be a rogue. She can, if need be, pick a lock, harass the local guards, etc. But she rarely puts these skills to use.
Background
Early Life
Born on a clear night on the autumnal equinox, Elwena was a carefree wee babe. Her mother and father were very loving and cherished both their daughters. For the first years of her life, Elwena had a good life and a stable family.
Alkor's Fall and the Move to Lerhyn
Things would not remain peaceful for long. A dark shadow fell on the island nation of Alkor. Tarus had set his sights on the kingdom. Elwena's parents, having a will to save their daughters, took measures into their own hands and arranged for transport to the main land. The only dock that would receive them was Lerhyn. Aina opted to stay and try to wait out the horrors of what was to come, having set up a life for herself. So Elwena's parents took their youngest and fled to the mainland.
The desert was a hard place to adjust to, but Elwena grew to love the sands of Lerhyn. Her father registered as a merchant but found little to sell to the people of the nation. So, while they had little, Elwena learned at her mother's knee. Meanwhile, Daddy had made friends with a less than reputable merchant by the name of Lowl Mander. This was the beginning of the end of Elwena's happy days. As her father began to gamble away his money, Mander had a glimpse of Elwena and wanted her for his own. Mander was a slaver and thought that she would catch a fine price. As the corrupt merchant plotted away, Elwena's mother came down with a nasty disease. It was not long after that she perished, leaving a disraught Elwena to fend for herself more and more. It was only through the help of a small group of friends that she survived. But, her father found himself so far in debt with Mander that when the dark merchant asked for Elwena as payment, he sold her and then subsequently hung himself out of shame and grief.
From Enslavement to Escape
At first, Mander posed as a comforting father figure to the orphaned Elwena. But as Mander took her away to live with him and his wife, life took another sour turn. Mander's wife had a daughter. She wasn't the vision of loveliness that Elwena was and Mander's wife grew quickly jealous. She convinced her husband to use Elwena as a house-slave. So, the little blond elf was enslaved and grew desolate and wane in the face of such cruelty. Over time, Kirena, Mander's daughter, grew hostile towards Elwena and had her whipped frequently for petty mistakes.
This went on for a number of years and Elwena grew used to the treatment. As the nation around them crumbled from within, Elwena found some old books and soon started to read them, escaping her life of cruel slavery. She soon realized that she was by no means a slave, rather an elf. From where, she was not sure, for her early memories were dim. But as the need for freedom grew within her, so had her abuse worsened. She was whipped daily by Mander himself, who had lost alot in the latter years. He used Elwena as a scapegoat. Elwena tried to find a way out and in desperation, she found a broken knife in the sand one night and slit Mander's throat. With chains and all, she fled the house and slowly made her way south, fearful that she would be followed and brought back for trial.
A New Beginning and a Terrible Gift
Coming to the shores of Marseille, Elwena could scarce believe her luck. She had escaped from Mander and was almost in the free and clear. Now if she could only head home, wherever that was. Unfortunently, she found out that Alkor had been sunk to the bottom of the ocean. So, she took to scavenging and fending for herself, thinking that as long as she was free, she was safe. During this time, she became so emaciated that she was forced to steal from the street vendors. One night, as she was sitting in the gutter, she began to desperately pray to what gods were listening, tearing at her face, creating scratches deep within the flesh. A light seemed to surround her tears and she felt the presence of a heavy darkness descend upon her. Fainting into the water, Elwena had no idea what happened. When she awoke the next morning, she touched her face. There were no scratch marks. The gods had answered her prayer in a most unusual way. She had been given healing tears.
Flood happens
A month later, though, she spotted some of Mander's men and she was forced to travel outside into the wilds around Laboo. Luckily, this was the best situation for she ran into the one person who was fated to help her, Alyndriah Valarith. The rogue sharpshooter, after some discussion with Elwena, took her under her wing and trained her in the life of a rogue. Months passed by swiftly and Elwena felt like she belonged.
Love and the Life of a Rogue
Following Alyn around was at first very fulfilling but soon, Elwena longed for a bit more. The answer to that dream came in the form of one Armiel (insert last name, can't remember). He had been one of her few friends growing up in Lerhyn. They reconnected quickly and soon found themselves together in a relationship. Her life took a turn for the fast lane, for she soon learned that Armiel was part of a group called the Drak Pack, led by the infamous Drakonis Veer. She was soon acquainted with the drowish rogue and fell under his spell. She quickly joined the group herself, after Alyn had disappeared. Serving as the group's healer, she was quite content.
Everything was going smoothly enough until one day, she discovered herself pregnant. She was all at once elated and saddened, for the life of a rogue was no place to raise a child. So, she tried to convince Armiel of leaving the Pack and raising the child with her. Armiel, feeling forced into it, said that he would marry Elwena, if she would give him one more day. The next day, though, it was discovered that Armiel had been murdered by a malcontent. Spiraling into depression, the pregnant Elwena wandered away from the group as Drakonis had disappeared for a time. So, it was that Elwena met another man fated to be her lover, Malgeru Szandor. She befriended him and was slowly brought back out of depression.
Alyn returned and when she found out that Elwena was pregnant, she tried to abandon her charge to Malgeru. Elwena would have none of it and tried to convince Alyn that she and the baby would be fine. After a long fight in Bridgeton, Alyn drew an arrow and forced Elwena to make a choice: Staying a rogue and dropping the baby or losing Alyn and keeping the baby. Elwena could not bring herself to make that sort of choice. So Alyn stormed out, stole something from the Bridgeton Marines and disappeared, making it seem like she died. Elwena was again disraught. She refused to eat anything and she wandered the town, pale as a ghost. All of the stress and turmoil caused Elwena to lose the baby.
Seanchanni and a Broken Heart
The miscarriage caused a tremendous amount of grief to befall upon Elwena. Malgeru offered his shoulder to cry on and slowly, she healed. But she would never be quite the same again. Abandoning the thought of running with the Pack for awhile, Elwena took up the search for a home again. And through this search, she found the Seanchanni...and a new relationship. While not a well-spoken man, Malgeru was a calming force for Elwena and through some awkward conversations, he admitted his feelings for her. Elwena felt utterly safe with Mal and decided to honor her own feelings for the stoic elf. The pair decided to take things slow and soon, Elwena was ensconched as healer for the Seanchanni.
Over the next year or so, things were wonderful again. Mal had proposed but it was getting increasingly rare that Elwena saw him. Too late had she realized that her past had poisoned yet another relationship, she began to doubt Mal's intentions towards her. As she discovered she was pregnant, Elwena began to incite arguments with Mal, berating him for never being there for her. It was not the case but given her busy schedule and the threat of war with Celdin, she assumed that he had to be there with her. Malgeru had a phobia for crowds but this did not matter to Elwena. The baby grew inside of her and then, when tensions ran the highest, Elwena gave birth to her daughter, whom she named Mira. She had help with the labor from a female forgewrought and a mage by the name of Alkar Sonishva. Mal had not been there for the birth.
Angry beyond words that Mal had not showed even to greet his child into the world, Elwena hunted him down, heartbroken. She ended the relationship and never heard from him again. Left with raising a child alone, Elwena sought comfort in another new friend, Michi Hakor. The redheaded daughter of Matrim Hakor, Michi was a new mother as well. Her lover, Armadeus Xxian and she were the proud parents of twins, Memory and Aimes. Elwena found a friend and sister in Michi and the two began to plan their children's lives.
On a balmy summer night, Elwena was in the fort, unable to sleep. There, in the courtyard, was an elven man, slouched over at a table. He appeared to be sleeping. It was Stellazio Astaurogon, a guard for the new Alkorian Republic that was founded. She had had many conversations with him in the past and considered him a good friend. On the table, Stell appeared to be having a dream. He was muttering to himself and drooling. Elwena smiled, knowing what that meant. So she did the one thing that she could do to stop him. She woke him up. Stumbling out of his sleep, he fell out of the chair. Laughing, Elwena helped him up and then, the two of them talked well into the early morning. Before going to bed, Elwena got close to Stell and in a quick motion, locked lips with him. So started the courtship of Stellazio to Elwena.
Celdin and the Death of a Legacy
After the nation of New Alkor split apart, Elwena moved to Greendale and requested permission to run the hospital. She was granted permission and soon she ran a busy hospital. There, she grew closer to Stell and also Michi and her lover, Armadeus. Days passed busily and happily.
Over the next few months, as Stell and Elwena spent more time together, Stell saw fit to propose to Elly, to make her a married woman. Time passed and in a double wedding, Elwena and Michi married their respective beaus.
Over time, Elwena gave birth to a wee one she named Cirdan in a whimsical daze. Surprisingly, Drakonis was there to help support her. Perhaps only to gain something? Michi was the one who coached her through Cirdan's birth. And in that same whimsical daze, she named Drak as Cirdan's godfather, no doubt pissing Stell off indubily. After recovering, Elwena apologized to Stell for naming the babe without working on a name together. Stell asked about removing Drakonis as Cirdan's godfather..Elwena was resolute. He would stay his godfather.
(Some stuff happens...I can't remember exactly what..)
Fast forward to the build-up of Noutarask. Things had been turning ugly for the small group of friends. Jjahk de Lionnes had apparently been taken over or merged or something with Noutarask, his father. Armadeus got himself involved in the dealings. Michi got captured and then released. Some more stuff happens..(<<")
Separating from Jjahk, Noutarask found himself in a new body. So, now, he gathered followers and planned great destruction. Armadeus disappeared in and out and let it be known that they all should go into hiding. Elwena ushered her family, along with Michi, to the caves in the desert. They stayed there while the enemies of Noutarask made war against him.
As the end drew to a close, much was lost..Aimes, Armadeus, and Memory all went missing, devastating Michi and Elwena both. Mira was also hurt as well, as she had grew up with the twins.
Rifts in Love and a New Threat
Through all the turmoil and fight, Elwena had barely seen her husband. Fraught with worry over her children, she had gone her own way, not consulting Stell. So it was that there was growing tension between the two. Fights were more the commonplace occurence in the Astaurogon household.
This tension grew into a sort of bitterness for Elwena. One of the more prominent things that set off her temper was how much time her husband was spending with his friend, Valiant, the dragoon. Elwena did not mean to be so harsh on either of them, but she was feeling quite neglected.
It came to a head one evening, in the soon to be rebuilt nation of Alkor. Elwena had arranged for some time to spend with Stell and the kids. And when all was set into motion, Stell was with Valiant the night Elwena set aside for some alone time with him. So, when Stell and Valiant appeared, at an ungodly hour and drunk as you know what, Elwena's anger had been festering that whole evening. Words were exchanged and Elwena stated that she needed some time to reevaluate things. Taking this quite personally, for who would blame him if he did, Stell grew almost cold and distant all of a sudden and ran off into the woods. Elwena, for the first time in a long time, took a hard look at herself. Valiant 'helped' by popping her one in the jaw. This was easy enough to heal physically, but Elwena went off to seek comfort more so in the arms of her friends.
A day or so later, Elwena was still in the Alkorian forest, her ever patient daughter, Mira, watching the children. She was sitting against a tree when who would come out of the shadows but her Stell. She then apologized from the very bottom of her heart and the two reconciled to a fragile peace.
On a more global front, a new threat was making itself known to the Kharlians. Sleeg, a corrupted orc..and his followers were wrecking havoc upon Crossroads in particular. One night, Valiant threw one of his impromptu parties and invited a whole slew of people to his house. This, unfortunently, included Sleeg, in disguise. It turned out that he was targeting Elwena herself, saying that she held within her a thing called quintesscence. The chaos-loving Sleeg, revealing himself, right in front of a drunken Valiant and a lesser inebriated Stell. Elwena, distracted by an appearance from Drakonis, turned at a particular moment when Stell drew his sword, prepared to defend her and the occupants of the house.
Deciding to let the rogue drow usher Elwena to safety, Stell faced off against Sleeg. After some intense fighting, one of Sleeg's thorns got past Stell's defense and imbedded itself into his stomach. Unaware of what had happened to her husband, Drakonis flipped a coin and went back in to try and help the fight along. Elwena followed him back inside, waiting in the upper levels. Time passed slowly but soon, all Elwena could remember was someone telling her that Stell had been captured by Sleeg. She had blacked out after that.
Stellazio's Transformation and Elwena's Guilt
A week…two weeks went by after Sleeg’s taking of Stell. Elwena put her whole effort into finding her missing husband. Then, like a curl of dread that hastened the next part of her life’s story…Sleeg appeared with his new ‘acquisition.’
At the Crossroads, Elwena was taking a short break in her search, leaned up against a tree. When in the course of the day did the Gray Lord of Xell appear, in the company of a new slave. Quickly, Sleeg found out Elwena’s presence and walked over to gloat. For his new slave was in fact, her husband, corrupted. Nothing could have prepared her for this as she was frozen to the spot in shock and horror.
Feeding off of this, Sleeg demonstrated the power he had over the corrupted Stell. Making him bow and lick his boots, Sleeg drew great pleasure out of Elwena’s sorrow and shock. Voice taken away by the sight before her, Elwena did not voice her objections to this. She could only stand there in helpless rage as Stell did the bidding of the evil creature.
Searching for Answers and a Shaky Redemption
After being confronted with Sleeg's depravity, Elwena set out to find a way to turn her husband back to the elf he once was. Through this search, she was introduced to Ronja Noku and his lover, Erika Okibi. Befriending the dynamic couple, Elwena felt she had found the key to helping Stell regain himself.
Little did Elwena know that over the next few weeks, Valiant Xemiradin(sp) would find and heal her husband of the corruption, breaking through the evil. It was only until a fateful evening in the house of Ronja and Erika that Elwena finally met up with the rejuvenated Stell. To her shock, everyone else knew of his salvation save for her. It turned out that her husband was quite angry with her...so angry in fact that upon his suggestion, Valiant attacked her, electrocuting her quite painfully. It was only upon Ronja's intervention that she was spared.
A couple days later, when she had recovered, it was found out that Elwena was pregnant with a child. Seeking to tell Stell the news and to put everything behind them, the healer elf finally talked things over with her husband and peace was achieved. It turned out that Stell was upset that she had not shown more effort and emotion when trying to rescue him. Particularly when Sleeg had flaunted his control over the Astaurogon.
Things were not the same around the Astaurogon household, but Elwena strived for peace.
War and Seperation
Just when things looked like they could be getting better, the tensions between Valikorlia and Dalmar once again rose to the heights of violence. War once again broke out between the two nations.
Having to abandon their farm because of the escalating war, Elwena and Stell settled into Fort Lheao. Resuming her duties as healer to the Seanchanni, Elwena soon found herself busy once again. Working long days and staying up late to clean house and do laundry, the healer soon found an emotional gap between her husband and herself.
Over a period of months, things went on like this. Then everything exploded literally..
Just before the Oungmund mines exploded and tore apart the known world, Stell, unbeknownst to Elwena, was given a mission that took him away from home quite suddenly and without warning. As Elwena took to the road to try and find him, there came a great cracking and groaning of the earth..
When the dust settled, Elwena was left with the conclusion that Stell might never return. With a heavy heart, she turned towards the fort to take up her duties and help with the healing process. In this process, she also adopted a friend's child, raising him as her own. She would name him Eranmel.
Five Years Later
Elwena remained in Fort Lheao throughout the years of rebuilding, raising her daughter and even finding it in her heart to try and move on. She started a relationship with her friend, Alkar. He had helped raise Mira and it seemed natural for her to turn to him for comfort.
A Final Parting
It was on a cloudy day in Laboo when Elwena finally ran into a very much living Stellazio. He was still under the impression that they were together, when Elwena had moved on. When Elwena told him of what had happened, Stell refused to believe her and they had an emotional confrontation. After this, the two parted on shaky ground.
A Grave Mistake
Elwena realized what a terrible assumption she had made. Breaking off her relationship with Alkar, the healer holed herself up in her home, not paying attention to much of anything. Losing herself into her work, Elwena distanced herself from everything she held dear. This left Ella to fend for herself at home. One day, the youngster got into her mother's medicinal supplies and ate something she shouldn't have. If it weren't for Elwena's timely return home, Ella would have surely perished.
Elwena took her to the hospital and worked to save her daughter's life. She was paying the price for her inattention. Ella survived, but her mother was not in any shape to celebrate such a lucky break. The accident was her fault and she spiraled downward into a numbed state. She left Ella in the care of Mira and went out into the wilderness to sort herself out.
