Backstory: Lita

Lita grew up in a small village called Winston, on the outskirts of the Mistwood Forest. She came from an ordinary home. Her parents had a small house and garden, where they grew enough food to survive. Her father, who was rumored to be a Ranger in his youth, was a great hunter. There was always meat on the table for dinner. His name was Leonard, and his wife was Isabella.


Winston of Easaria is home to about fifty people. Humans and half-elves both live there. They are good, free people who have a simple life of farming and enjoy the protection of their lord, Gladfiolas, King of Saklan and Baron of the Province of Easaria. The town does very well and prospers under the ministrations of Nicolas, a half-elven curate.

Leonard did a lot of adventuring when he was young and was quite skilled at tracking. During one of his adventures, he came upon a band of trolls. After a good battle, a few managed to escape, but he never thought much about it. His travels eventually took him to Winston, where he met and fell in love with a beautiful half-elf maiden named Isabella. He retired from his life and settled down to raise a family. After some time, his wife gave him a little girl they called Lita.

Leonard taught Lita how to track and hunt. He showed her how to move through the wood without making a sound. He taught her to respect the land and to care for it. Her mother, being half-elf taught her to read and write in both languages. These were the best years of their lives.

One night, when Lita had reached her thirteenth Summer, her father had gone deep into the wood to make a new bow for his daughter. The young girl had followed, more of habit than curiosity. There she saw her father set on by Trolls. He slew three, but the fourth cut him down. Lita ran for help and came across Nicolas. Together they returned to the scene of battle, but it was too late. Nicolas drove off the remaining troll, refusing to kill it, but her father was beyond his help. The young girl fainted in grief and was carried home by the curate.

Lita was able to hunt as her father had, and she had learned many of the secrets of his former life, including his time in the Fraternity. But Lita's mother could not be consoled for the loss of her husband and begged Lita to stay out of the wood, lest she fall into the same fate as her father. Lita reluctantly agreed, but felt stifled.

One day, Nicolas came calling and offered to take Lita as an Aspirant -- to teach her and guarantee her a trade aside from what she had learned at her father's knee. Now Nicolas was a great help to the town. He helped the village gardens and the lord's serfs to provide a great bounty in their own stores and in the crops that they raised. The people of Winston were grateful to him for many had purchased their freedom by the fruit of his efforts. They believed that he was a child of Baere herself to have such a green thumb. It seemed he always knew what and when to plant. Naturally, Lita's mother was relieved.

So Lita learned a second skill under his tutelage. She had excellent potential as a curate. Her respect for living things and her natural wisdom made her a perfect student. For the next three years, she learned the ways of the Druids, including their arcane language. Nicolas thought she would be sure to succeed him when the time came, but Lita could not put aside what she had also learned at her father's knee. These two directions were always at war within her.

When she reached the age of 16, she rebuffed several offers of marriage. Then at 18 and the age of majority, she left Winston and went out into the world to discover what she might. Now she wanders Erenth as both a Ranger and Curate, keeping both traditions and sorting out which will preside within her.

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