Preslana Qinnorin, Elven Mage
Preslana was born into a barbaric nautical tribe of elves that sailed the oceans for centuries – some would call them pirates. Since the Chaos Wars, the Vaven clans have stayed away from the mainland, plundering the coastland and the tradelanes. They travelled the islands that make up the Shattered Channel for as long as Preslana can remember. The Vaven have many colonies along these islands. Preslana’s island was designated for a specific purpose – the Order of Perran.
Preslana was an orphan, growing up in a religious orphanage run by the Mothers of Perran the old goddess of the sea. They were responsible for ensuring a good fishing season by praying and sacrificing to their god. If the season is bad, one of the order is sacrificed for the next season, according to their customs. Chosen by lottery among those eligible (18 years old or older), one of the Order is dropped from the Cliffs of Omaron in front of an audience of all the fishing clans. Those sacrificed were said to have joined the Maidens of Perran. This was their custom for hundreds of years.
Preslana’s family was made up of other orphaned girls. One in particular – Shazana – was considered a troublemaker and commonly took a small group of the girls out on the waves to visit the island containing the boy’s orphanage. Everyone joked that Shazana’s name was put in the lottery once for every time she got caught. Despite all this, Preslana and Shazana became close friends, which is why it shattered Preslana when Shazana’s name was picked just after her 19th birthday.
Preslana grew disillusioned by the whole process, to the point of blasphemy. She began to speak out against the traditions, first quietly and eventually in the open. Many were persuaded to her side. A small rebellion was developing. She spent many nights in the watery dungeons of the monastery. This only fed her passion and hatred. She had heard of times before where the lottery was skipped and names were chosen by the High Sea Mother, but she did not believe it. When the cell door opened and a hood was placed over her head, she has no idea she would find out the stories were true.
When they removed her hood, she looked over the Cliffs of Omaron, the waves crashing hundreds of feet below her. She resolved very quickly that she would rather die than live like this any further. The last thing she remembers from that moment was the cool breeze flowing through her hair as she fell towards the ocean.
She awakened in the darkness of a cavern, the ocean crashing around her. Light filled the cavern from some unknown source. Over her were many young faces she recognized, some older she did not. One was Shazana’s face. They were all pale. Their skin and hair looked permanently wet. She felt cold. “Preslana, welcome to the Maids of Perran.” They were real.
They herded her to a larger chamber where a massive creature lay on a small island in the middle of an underground pool of seawater. All those around Preslana bowed before this great being and encouraged her to do the same. She refused and stood strong. She had enough of being subservient. A voice filled her head painfully, “They said you would be strong willed. You are not the first and won’t be the last. But you will learn to respect me!” Without knowing it, Preslana found herself bowing before the creature.
“I am the one you call Perran. You will be one of my Maidens.” From then on, she was given a task and whether she wanted to do it or not, she did it. She learned many things from the Maidens, including her untapped penchant for magic. Learning the druidic ways of Perran, she felt more free than she ever had. Life was better here than in the monastery. However, she never left the caverns and never saw the sun. Every time she tried, she was stopped by one of Perran’s warrior woman. There was always something nagging at her. Something was wrong but no one would tell her.
Perran came to her in a dream one night. She appeared as a young elf noble woman but she knew who she really was. “My child, you are destined for greatness. Something stirs on the mainland that threatens all of us and I sense a destiny far beyond a simple Maiden in you. For this, I will tell you the truth. When you became a Maiden, you became so much more. Some call it a blessing while others call it a curse.”
He proceeded to describe what she had become. As long as she remained close to Perran, very few of these traits revealed themselves but while she chases her destiny, she will see them slowly manifest. She will have a strong sensitivity to sunlight, to the point that it will burn like acid. She must specially wear a close during daylight to avoid this. She also must feed at least once every 3 or 4 days on fresh elven or human blood. On the upside, she is very hard to kill and has fairly tough skin. When in salt water, she can also transform to a body very similar to the merfolk of old.
Perran finally spoke of the brewing signs of Chaos and one in particular that drew his attention – the awakening of an old enemy, Yiz’axa. His Whispering Worm monks nearly succeeded in freeing him from his otherworldly prison. Only by the brave actions of some unknown heroes were the worms efforts thwarted. Preslana must find these heroes for her destiny is tied to them. Help them but when she can, learn the location of the Whispering Worm temple.