OC backstory
Nov. 22nd, 2010 05:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sagesariaThe Life History of Sunnburst Stardancer
Sunnburst's life has never been a flawless ascension into adulthood. Like all who live a life in the land of Norrath, it is a story of turmoil and battle, in her home and in her heart. The wood elf city in the trees, Kelethin, on the continent of Faydwer, is where our story begins.
Lady Stardancer was ill all the while she carried her daughter in her womb, unable to leave her bed and scarcely able to eat. Still, she lived only long enough to name the child when she was delivered at last. Delirious with fever, the girl was named Sunnburst, for the rays of sunlight that baptized her as they shined through the cracks in the hut ceiling.
With uncanny resemblance to her mother, Sunnburst was a child of beauty and charisma, beloved by her father as the remaining memory of his lost wife. He taught her all he could about everything he knew. It was with his influence that she was inspired, at age ten, to become a ranger like himself.
At a young age she was accepted into the Ranger's guild, Faydark's Champions, and trained in the very basics of swordplay and archery. Her father taught her how to fashion together her own arrows, and her cousin Malhachite, who looked after her like an older brother, accompanied her on hunting trips for small game like bats and brownies. She fared surprisingly well on her own, and on one particular hunt, Sunnburst spared the life of a wounded wolf cub. That wolf would always remember her kindness, and they would become as close as if he were her own familiar. She would name him Raycatcher, and he would be a true companion for many years to come.
But two years later, neither her skill with a bow nor her wolf companion could save her from Kelethin's darkest hour, when Crushbone, the orc city in the cave through the woods, not far from Kelethin, would organize an attack on the peaceful wood elves. Under the leadership of King Crushbone's Ambassador, D'vinn, hundreds of orcish soldiers marched to the city. Trapped in the trees, the frightened elves had no escape except for a deadly drop to the grassy floor. Houses were raided for treasure, the weak and the helpless were taken prisoner, and those who fought were slaughtered. In the end, Kelethin burned to the ground with few survivors, and Sunnburst, twelve years old, seconds after witnessing her father's death, was carried away to Crushbone.
She would remember very little about what was to be called the Night of Fire, except in her dreams, where the bloody, lifeless body of her father and the pillar of flame rising over her home would haunt her for the rest of her life. All she would know for seven more years was a bitter, helpless resentment toward her captors, the slave drivers of Crushbone. For seven years, she would live, eat and sleep in the cold orcish mines, a shackle around her ankle and a leather strap across her shoulder. But her imprisonment would not crush the entirety of her spirit, and over time, the Ambassador himself would know her as a troublemaker. Over seven years, she would be moved to every mine in Crushbone at least one time, and she would take more beatings than all the other slaves, often taking punishment upon herself to save them the pain. The scars on her back grew deep and many would never fully heal.
Over time, Sunnburst's soul did begin to crumble, too tired to fight against her slavers anymore. Over seven years the chance of escape dwindled in her mind, with nothing she could fight back with and nobody to come to her rescue. But in her nineteenth year of age, as she was about to lose all hope, rescue came at last.
A dark elfin man of high degree came to Crushbone. His presence was welcomed by the orcs, and it was believed by all of them that he came to oversee the work in the mines, and that he was to see to it that the slaves' work was satisfactory.
But in the dead of night, while he watched over the cold, sleepless slaves, a voice whispered in Sunnburst's ear;
"Gather your strength, tree-dweller. Your freedom comes at dawn."
And at dawn it did come. A single orc slaver watched the mines, and from an instinct she couldn't explain, she knew exactly what the man's words meant, and what was to be done. She dug in the mine for some time, keeping herself out of the slaver's cautious eye on her, until at last she pretended to collapse from exhaustion. And when the orc guard came to beat her to consciousness and back to work, she knocked him down and beat him to death and beyond with his own whip. With the keys from his belt, she was able to free herself and two of her fellow slaves before the alarm was sounded and she had to flee. The dark elf who had given her those words of strength had been waiting for her, guiding her and her companions to safety, risking his own life to keep the attacking soldiers at bay. He could only take them as far as the gates of Crushbone, where Sunnburst was greeted by Raycatcher, who in seven years had become a full grown wolf of great power and beauty and had waited for his companion faithfully. He was the one to take her home to Kelethin, which had been restored precisely as it had been before the Night of Fire.
Of the survivors of that night, both relieved to see her alive, were Malhachite, and her childhood friend Willowwinnd, who with mutual grief over the believed loss of their friend, had fallen in love with Malhachite without his knowledge. They fussed over and nursed Sunnburst for days after her return, doing their best to heal the wounds she suffered in Crushbone, both to her body and to her heart. But the best medicine she found was in returning to her lessons in the ranger's guild, honing her skills so neither she nor anyone else would suffer such a torture as slavery again. While her abilities with magic were not so well off, her talent with the sword and the bow were unprecedented, and still serve her well to this day.
In her time recovering her strength and polishing her shaken skills, a handsome young bard would come to Kelethin by the name of Syngo. His way with words, his sense of humor, and his bardic charm would win the heart of every eligible young girl, but Syngo's eye fell upon Sunnburst, and he strove to court her when ever he came to town. She was flattered to accept his platonic advances, but was never able to tell him that her heart belonged to another.
She would meet her savior again, searching for him late in the night. His name was Utannayil, a powerful necromancer, and to them, a traitor to the dark elf race, as he resented their evil hearts and cruel ways. The two of them would fall in love, but their demanding and conflicting societies would cause them to only see each other at night, deep in the woods where nobody would see them. Utannayil would be Sunnburst's greatest pillar of strength for as long as he lived, and it would be with his guidance that her life take the path that it did.
Her will and her skill returned, she strove for several years to free everyone that she could from their bondage in Crushbone. Knowing that the law in Kelethin could never agree to a full attack on the orcish city, she took matters into her own hands. With her extensive knowledge of the slave system in the mines, she was able to spy on them and take her chances to free as many as she could with as few casualties as possible. She would not tell anyone else of these journeys alone to Crushbone, except to her beloved Utannayil, and thus she lived two lives of secrecy. For over a year, Utannayil was kept a secret from Malhachite, who continued to watch over his cousin, feeling obligated by the spirit of is late uncle, Sunnburst's father, to see that she never got hurt. But that changed when one night triggered a series of events that would forever change Sunnburst's life.
During a late raid on the mines, Sunnburst was attacked by another slave, an attack she had not anticipated. A dwarfen spellcaster, recently captured and still retaining his magical skill and fury, lashed out at Sunnburst, unable to understand that she was trying to help him. She barely escaped being dragged into the bowels of the earth, but it wasn't until she staggered through the woods that she discovered he had not stopped at that; he left her with a curse of dreadful illness. Weak with fever and soaked to the bone from the storming rain that fell that night, she collapsed among the trees. Raycatcher, out of love for her, followed the other scent that he always found on her and sought help from Utannayil, who had been living in the Greater Faydark for many months. He hid with Sunnburst in an abandoned orcish camp, staying with her through the night and never leaving her side until the curse had passed and her fever had broken.
The morning afterward, when she had recovered and Utannayil walked her home, was when Malhachite, out searching for Sunnburst when she hadn't come home, spotted her in the arms of a dark elf. Seeing her home to rest first, Malhachite attacked Utannayil in a rage. Desperately he promised Malhachite that he meant no harm to his cousin, speaking of their love and begging him for his trust. Ultimately, Malhachite agreed, not fully trusting, but convinced at least of his love, and how it would break Sunnburst's heart to deliver the blow he so wished to.
That was the night when Sunnburst finally told her cousin of her nightly raids on Crushbone, and of everything that she had gone through during her seven years of captivity. Understanding, and wishing she had told him sooner, he convinced her to take him with her on the next raid, promising to protect her and the others that they save. She agreed gratefully, but that happiness was not to last. Many more slaves were freed with Malhachite's help, but his determination to see the mission through caused him to overstep his bounds, and the two of them were caught. Malhachite fought to the last, calling to Sunnburst to run and herself and the slaves out, promising that he could take care of himself. Less than a day later, Willowwinnd came to Sunnburst weeping to deliver the news that Malhachite was dead; captured and tortured to death in the castle Crushbone by the Ambassador himself.
Devastated, she went to Utannayil for comfort, but he only had more bad news. His presence had been discovered in the Greater Faydark not only by Malhachite, and it was only a matter of time before he was arrested. He had until dawn to leave before they found him, and he offered Sunnburst this one chance to come with him. If she accepted, they would travel to a new city where they could go into hiding and be married. Otherwise, he could never risk contacting her again, lest she be used for leverage to hurt him. Weeping, Sunnburst confesses that she cannot leave while Crushbone still stood; her duties were to those who shared her pain in the mines. He is disheartened, but understanding, and the two cursed lovers spent what they thought would be their final night together, embraced in passion.
Lying awake in Utannayil's arms, she came to a resolution. Crushbone had torn her heart in two for too long, and it was time to see that it never happened to anybody again. She had to put an end to it all. King Crushbone and Ambassador D'vinn must die, she determined, and left her beloved as he was, sword in hand.
By a miracle, and that was all she would be able to think of it as, she made it through the swarms of guards in the castle alive, strength still intact, and quickly came face to face with D'vinn himself. Their fight was long and intense, spending almost all of Sunnburst's strength. But when she looked into D'vinn's eyes, she saw the man who murdered her father, the man who murdered her cousin. She could imagine Malhachite's agonized screams riddled with the Ambassador's joyful, maniacal laughter. And in that moment, a moment of pure rage and vengeance, her mediocre magical ability erupted in might, and she cast a powerful fire spell with intent to burn D'vinn to cinders. Her spell missed, but its force was enough to cause the castle of Crushbone to collapse, burying D'vinn and the King alive.
Feeling she had fulfilled her revenge, and her quest complete, she never stayed to find out that the two rulers of the orc city were still alive, and would later rebuild and renew. She saw the remaining slaves of the mines on their way home, and returned only briefly to Kelethin to leave a brief, unexplaining letter of farewell to Willowwinnd, and departed with nothing but her sword and the flowing robe that Willowwinnd had made for her long ago. It was pure white, made of the purest spiderling silk. It would be her wedding dress, she thought, as she made it to the dock as the sun rose, just in time to meet Utannayil. Willowwinnd never saw her friend again, as she never returned to Faydwer, and eventually she would live an unsatisfied, though not unhappy, married life with Syngo.
Life overseas with Utannayil was hard, and they never did marry as they hoped. They lived for several months in the city of Freeport, until Utannayil's identity was discovered, and he died in prison of disease; no cleric wanted to help him. Sunnburst remained faithful to him to the end of his life. She now travels far away from the land of Norrath to find a new life far from the one she once knew.
Sunnburst's life has never been a flawless ascension into adulthood. Like all who live a life in the land of Norrath, it is a story of turmoil and battle, in her home and in her heart. The wood elf city in the trees, Kelethin, on the continent of Faydwer, is where our story begins.
Lady Stardancer was ill all the while she carried her daughter in her womb, unable to leave her bed and scarcely able to eat. Still, she lived only long enough to name the child when she was delivered at last. Delirious with fever, the girl was named Sunnburst, for the rays of sunlight that baptized her as they shined through the cracks in the hut ceiling.
With uncanny resemblance to her mother, Sunnburst was a child of beauty and charisma, beloved by her father as the remaining memory of his lost wife. He taught her all he could about everything he knew. It was with his influence that she was inspired, at age ten, to become a ranger like himself.
At a young age she was accepted into the Ranger's guild, Faydark's Champions, and trained in the very basics of swordplay and archery. Her father taught her how to fashion together her own arrows, and her cousin Malhachite, who looked after her like an older brother, accompanied her on hunting trips for small game like bats and brownies. She fared surprisingly well on her own, and on one particular hunt, Sunnburst spared the life of a wounded wolf cub. That wolf would always remember her kindness, and they would become as close as if he were her own familiar. She would name him Raycatcher, and he would be a true companion for many years to come.
But two years later, neither her skill with a bow nor her wolf companion could save her from Kelethin's darkest hour, when Crushbone, the orc city in the cave through the woods, not far from Kelethin, would organize an attack on the peaceful wood elves. Under the leadership of King Crushbone's Ambassador, D'vinn, hundreds of orcish soldiers marched to the city. Trapped in the trees, the frightened elves had no escape except for a deadly drop to the grassy floor. Houses were raided for treasure, the weak and the helpless were taken prisoner, and those who fought were slaughtered. In the end, Kelethin burned to the ground with few survivors, and Sunnburst, twelve years old, seconds after witnessing her father's death, was carried away to Crushbone.
She would remember very little about what was to be called the Night of Fire, except in her dreams, where the bloody, lifeless body of her father and the pillar of flame rising over her home would haunt her for the rest of her life. All she would know for seven more years was a bitter, helpless resentment toward her captors, the slave drivers of Crushbone. For seven years, she would live, eat and sleep in the cold orcish mines, a shackle around her ankle and a leather strap across her shoulder. But her imprisonment would not crush the entirety of her spirit, and over time, the Ambassador himself would know her as a troublemaker. Over seven years, she would be moved to every mine in Crushbone at least one time, and she would take more beatings than all the other slaves, often taking punishment upon herself to save them the pain. The scars on her back grew deep and many would never fully heal.
Over time, Sunnburst's soul did begin to crumble, too tired to fight against her slavers anymore. Over seven years the chance of escape dwindled in her mind, with nothing she could fight back with and nobody to come to her rescue. But in her nineteenth year of age, as she was about to lose all hope, rescue came at last.
A dark elfin man of high degree came to Crushbone. His presence was welcomed by the orcs, and it was believed by all of them that he came to oversee the work in the mines, and that he was to see to it that the slaves' work was satisfactory.
But in the dead of night, while he watched over the cold, sleepless slaves, a voice whispered in Sunnburst's ear;
"Gather your strength, tree-dweller. Your freedom comes at dawn."
And at dawn it did come. A single orc slaver watched the mines, and from an instinct she couldn't explain, she knew exactly what the man's words meant, and what was to be done. She dug in the mine for some time, keeping herself out of the slaver's cautious eye on her, until at last she pretended to collapse from exhaustion. And when the orc guard came to beat her to consciousness and back to work, she knocked him down and beat him to death and beyond with his own whip. With the keys from his belt, she was able to free herself and two of her fellow slaves before the alarm was sounded and she had to flee. The dark elf who had given her those words of strength had been waiting for her, guiding her and her companions to safety, risking his own life to keep the attacking soldiers at bay. He could only take them as far as the gates of Crushbone, where Sunnburst was greeted by Raycatcher, who in seven years had become a full grown wolf of great power and beauty and had waited for his companion faithfully. He was the one to take her home to Kelethin, which had been restored precisely as it had been before the Night of Fire.
Of the survivors of that night, both relieved to see her alive, were Malhachite, and her childhood friend Willowwinnd, who with mutual grief over the believed loss of their friend, had fallen in love with Malhachite without his knowledge. They fussed over and nursed Sunnburst for days after her return, doing their best to heal the wounds she suffered in Crushbone, both to her body and to her heart. But the best medicine she found was in returning to her lessons in the ranger's guild, honing her skills so neither she nor anyone else would suffer such a torture as slavery again. While her abilities with magic were not so well off, her talent with the sword and the bow were unprecedented, and still serve her well to this day.
In her time recovering her strength and polishing her shaken skills, a handsome young bard would come to Kelethin by the name of Syngo. His way with words, his sense of humor, and his bardic charm would win the heart of every eligible young girl, but Syngo's eye fell upon Sunnburst, and he strove to court her when ever he came to town. She was flattered to accept his platonic advances, but was never able to tell him that her heart belonged to another.
She would meet her savior again, searching for him late in the night. His name was Utannayil, a powerful necromancer, and to them, a traitor to the dark elf race, as he resented their evil hearts and cruel ways. The two of them would fall in love, but their demanding and conflicting societies would cause them to only see each other at night, deep in the woods where nobody would see them. Utannayil would be Sunnburst's greatest pillar of strength for as long as he lived, and it would be with his guidance that her life take the path that it did.
Her will and her skill returned, she strove for several years to free everyone that she could from their bondage in Crushbone. Knowing that the law in Kelethin could never agree to a full attack on the orcish city, she took matters into her own hands. With her extensive knowledge of the slave system in the mines, she was able to spy on them and take her chances to free as many as she could with as few casualties as possible. She would not tell anyone else of these journeys alone to Crushbone, except to her beloved Utannayil, and thus she lived two lives of secrecy. For over a year, Utannayil was kept a secret from Malhachite, who continued to watch over his cousin, feeling obligated by the spirit of is late uncle, Sunnburst's father, to see that she never got hurt. But that changed when one night triggered a series of events that would forever change Sunnburst's life.
During a late raid on the mines, Sunnburst was attacked by another slave, an attack she had not anticipated. A dwarfen spellcaster, recently captured and still retaining his magical skill and fury, lashed out at Sunnburst, unable to understand that she was trying to help him. She barely escaped being dragged into the bowels of the earth, but it wasn't until she staggered through the woods that she discovered he had not stopped at that; he left her with a curse of dreadful illness. Weak with fever and soaked to the bone from the storming rain that fell that night, she collapsed among the trees. Raycatcher, out of love for her, followed the other scent that he always found on her and sought help from Utannayil, who had been living in the Greater Faydark for many months. He hid with Sunnburst in an abandoned orcish camp, staying with her through the night and never leaving her side until the curse had passed and her fever had broken.
The morning afterward, when she had recovered and Utannayil walked her home, was when Malhachite, out searching for Sunnburst when she hadn't come home, spotted her in the arms of a dark elf. Seeing her home to rest first, Malhachite attacked Utannayil in a rage. Desperately he promised Malhachite that he meant no harm to his cousin, speaking of their love and begging him for his trust. Ultimately, Malhachite agreed, not fully trusting, but convinced at least of his love, and how it would break Sunnburst's heart to deliver the blow he so wished to.
That was the night when Sunnburst finally told her cousin of her nightly raids on Crushbone, and of everything that she had gone through during her seven years of captivity. Understanding, and wishing she had told him sooner, he convinced her to take him with her on the next raid, promising to protect her and the others that they save. She agreed gratefully, but that happiness was not to last. Many more slaves were freed with Malhachite's help, but his determination to see the mission through caused him to overstep his bounds, and the two of them were caught. Malhachite fought to the last, calling to Sunnburst to run and herself and the slaves out, promising that he could take care of himself. Less than a day later, Willowwinnd came to Sunnburst weeping to deliver the news that Malhachite was dead; captured and tortured to death in the castle Crushbone by the Ambassador himself.
Devastated, she went to Utannayil for comfort, but he only had more bad news. His presence had been discovered in the Greater Faydark not only by Malhachite, and it was only a matter of time before he was arrested. He had until dawn to leave before they found him, and he offered Sunnburst this one chance to come with him. If she accepted, they would travel to a new city where they could go into hiding and be married. Otherwise, he could never risk contacting her again, lest she be used for leverage to hurt him. Weeping, Sunnburst confesses that she cannot leave while Crushbone still stood; her duties were to those who shared her pain in the mines. He is disheartened, but understanding, and the two cursed lovers spent what they thought would be their final night together, embraced in passion.
Lying awake in Utannayil's arms, she came to a resolution. Crushbone had torn her heart in two for too long, and it was time to see that it never happened to anybody again. She had to put an end to it all. King Crushbone and Ambassador D'vinn must die, she determined, and left her beloved as he was, sword in hand.
By a miracle, and that was all she would be able to think of it as, she made it through the swarms of guards in the castle alive, strength still intact, and quickly came face to face with D'vinn himself. Their fight was long and intense, spending almost all of Sunnburst's strength. But when she looked into D'vinn's eyes, she saw the man who murdered her father, the man who murdered her cousin. She could imagine Malhachite's agonized screams riddled with the Ambassador's joyful, maniacal laughter. And in that moment, a moment of pure rage and vengeance, her mediocre magical ability erupted in might, and she cast a powerful fire spell with intent to burn D'vinn to cinders. Her spell missed, but its force was enough to cause the castle of Crushbone to collapse, burying D'vinn and the King alive.
Feeling she had fulfilled her revenge, and her quest complete, she never stayed to find out that the two rulers of the orc city were still alive, and would later rebuild and renew. She saw the remaining slaves of the mines on their way home, and returned only briefly to Kelethin to leave a brief, unexplaining letter of farewell to Willowwinnd, and departed with nothing but her sword and the flowing robe that Willowwinnd had made for her long ago. It was pure white, made of the purest spiderling silk. It would be her wedding dress, she thought, as she made it to the dock as the sun rose, just in time to meet Utannayil. Willowwinnd never saw her friend again, as she never returned to Faydwer, and eventually she would live an unsatisfied, though not unhappy, married life with Syngo.
Life overseas with Utannayil was hard, and they never did marry as they hoped. They lived for several months in the city of Freeport, until Utannayil's identity was discovered, and he died in prison of disease; no cleric wanted to help him. Sunnburst remained faithful to him to the end of his life. She now travels far away from the land of Norrath to find a new life far from the one she once knew.
