Siriel

Description
Siriel is a hauntingly beautiful Elf who stands 5'1" tall, with long blonde hair hanging down to the middle of her calves, there are two platinum streaks at her temples. When out she normally wears it up in an elaborate pile of braids. Her lips are naturally tinted a beautiful pink hue and is shaped like a little heart. She has beautifully high elven cheek bones. She has strangely coloured eyes of pale grey green with flecks of dark green in them.

Siriel has a small grouping of five stars inconspicuously tattooed on her left temple. On her left arm she has a tattoo of a Tree with a green snake entwined in and around it, and going around the arm itself are a bunch of oak leaves. On her right arm she has tattooed a sickle overlapping a sun, a serpent looking like it had just slithered out from under the sun went around her arm and was going over the sun.

She has a slender well defined muscular build with curves in just the right places. Around her pale slender neck she wears a black leather choker with a tiny silver oak leaf hanging from it. She wears a black jerkin cinched at her waist with a black leather belt, tan leather gauntlets that cover from her wrist to the middle of her biceps. She wears black suede pants tucked into knee high white boots. She carries a knapsack to keep her belongings in and keeps herself warm in a fur lined hooded elk hide cloak.

Life Before Vintermor
Forsday Solas 24th 5128, it was a relatively warm autumn day when Vansiriel Holimion was born in the outskirts of Laurelin. Her druid mother, Qillathe had felt very little pain during the delivery. She had heard the druidic circle gasp when they saw, Vansiriel. For when she was born she had a full head of blonde hair with small streaks of almost a platinum color. When Vansiriel looked up into her mothers face, Qillathe saw that her daughter had the most beautiful grey green eyes with small flecks of forest green, almost like tiny pale moons peaking between little green leaves. She thought Vansiriel would lose those beautifully colored eyes and would get the darker green colored eyes, she didn't. Qillathe figured her daughters differences were from all the magicks she had done while she was pregnant.

Siriel, as she preferred to be called, grew up in a fairly calm childhood. She would go out on hunts and other excursions with her father, Himo, who was a Ranger. He would teach her the ways of the forest at any chance he could. He wanted her to be able to survive on her own with no difficulties in case anything ever happened and she was all alone in the forest. Sometimes her older brother, Laurlinis, would accompany them to also teach Siriel or to see if there was anything else he could learn from their father. When she wasn't out with her father learning the ways of the forest, Siriel, was at her mothers side, watching and soaking in everything that her mother did. Qillathe shared everything with Siriel, for she was happy to have a daughter to pass all of her knowledge to. As the years passed very little had changed except that Laurlinis did not come and visit at their parents home anymore. She still went out with her father into the forest, now that she was getting a bit older she was allowed to stay out with him for a couple of days at a time. When she was approximately 65 she ran into a half-elf for the first time while she was out with her father. Her family did not have a lot of visitors out to the village they lived in. Thats when Himo decided to teach his daughter about the fact that there are others out in the world that are not like the Elves. He had explained that the half-elf that they encountered wasn't that much older then she was. On several occasions, and their excursions they would run into the same half-elf. Sometimes Himo would allow her to go and talk to the Half-elf, she had learned that his name was Ridley and that his father was an Elf and his mother was a human. Himo told her that Ridley's father is a good elf but had been ostracized by their tribe because he fell in love with a human woman. As time passed Siriel and Ridley became good friends, under Himo's watchful eye of course.

Siriel had noticed while working with and learning from her mother that more and more of the other Elves would come and seek advice from her mother. When they came over Siriel would stay very quiet and listen to how her mother would advise them in their problems or situations, and then after the Elves had left she and her mother would discuss why or what Qillathe had told them. Qillathe told Siriel that being a druidic elder meant advising others at times or just comforting others in need. Siriel asked her mother if she could confide something to her. Of course Qillathe said yes and listened as Siriel told her of how her father would let her and Ridley talk and play in the woods. How they had become friends. Qillathe listened and when Siriel was finished, she explained that there are a lot of Elaidar elves that would think that Himo was wrong in letting her get to know a half-elf. Qillathe explained how a lot of the Elaidars don't accept anyone else except elves. She warned that Siriel should only go and see Ridley if Himo was with her. Siriel nodded.

About the time that Siriel turned 75, Himo came up to her one day that they were supposed to go out into the woods together on a three day excursion and told her that their plans had changed and that she would not be able to come with him this time. That this time he had to go by himself. She told him that she really didn't like that he was going by himself because she had a strange feeling about this outing. To try to get her to feel better about his going he took his loyal animal companion Elkan with him. Siriel was sad as well because she was really hoping to see Ridley again.

Four days later Siriel went out walking with Qillathe, and she told her mother of her worries for her father especially now that it had been a few days.

Qillathe explained that she too did not feel good about this last outing that Himo and gone out on and how she was afraid for her husband. When they had come back to their home after their walk around the village, Siriel found a package on the doorstep with a note that read. For you Siriel - Laurlinis. She brought it in and when her mother came in from talking with one of the other Elves, who had met up with her at the end of the pathway. She showed her mother the package and opened it while her mother stood there. It was a beautiful cloak made from an Elk hide. She tried it on and it came down over her shoulders and down just to her calf. There was a hood on it lined with fur and the closure at the neck was a beautifully crafted silver leaf. It fit her perfectly, a little too perfectly, she hadn't seen her brother in ten years, how did he know what size to make the cloak?

Qillathe, felt suddenly sick in her stomach. She collapsed. Siriel had gotten her mother into bed and when she was out the door leaving to go get the other druid elders they were already headed down the path towards the house. They stayed in her mothers room with her for days. Siriel felt useless, she didn't know what was wrong with her mother. The druids didn't tell her anything, just always that her mother was resting. She didn't know how to contact her brother for he was a rogue and never stayed in one place for any amount of time. Siriel would go out into the woods around the house during those few days hoping to spot her father on his way back or even see a glimpse of Ridley. She wished that she would see Ridley, she wanted to be able to tell him what had been happening. Not being able to talk to her mother and not knowing where her father was she so longed to talk to someone, especially Ridley.

Seven days after she had suddenly fell ill, Qillathe asked for Siriel to be brought to her. Siriel had been in her room terribly worried about both her mothers health and her fathers whereabouts. She went to see her mother at once, her mother was sitting up in bed and had her tattoo tool kit next to her. All the other druids silently left the bedroom. Qillathe told Siriel that she wanted to give her some very important tattoos. Siriel just nodded and put her head in her mothers lap as her mother instructed her to. Qillathe proceeded to tattoo a small grouping of five stars along Siriel's left temple, just along her hair line.

They were very inconspicuous. Her mother seemed very tired after she finished them. As if knowing that Qillathe was finished the other druids came back into the room. Qillathe looked at Siriel and told her that there were two more that the others would do while she was in with her in her room. Siriel was a little scared because she didn't understand why all of a sudden she is getting tattooed and why her mother wasn't explaining it to her either. She sat through the next session of tattooing while the druids quickly took instruction from Qillathe as to what to tattoo onto Siriel.

They tattooed a band around her left arm of a Tree with a green snake entwined in and around it, and going around the arm itself are a bunch of oak leaves. On the right arm at the same time another couple of druids were tattooing a sickle overlapping a sun, a serpent looking like it had just slithered out from under the sun went around her arm and was going over the sun. While they tattooed her the druids were quietly humming and every now and then one of them would speak ever so softly, the words, he will protect her. Siriel refused to cry, she wanted to remain strong for her mother, she didn't know why but she wanted to be strong enough to handle the pain of it all. She tried to blink back the tears that were welling up in her eyes, one stubborn tear escaped and betrayed her by rolling down her cheek. No one seemed to notice. When the druids were finished they all left, Siriel looked at the tattoos that now adorned her arms. Qillathe looked right worn out, Siriel was about to get up and leave so that her mother could get some more rest. Qillathe stopped her and told her that she needed to tell her some very bad news. She wanted to explain why she had just done what she did first. She explained to Siriel that the armband tattoos were just decorative but were decorative in a way that if anyone wanted to harm her they would think twice about it,if they looked at them and understood what they stood for. The tattoos on her temple, when she comes into her own and learn the craft of magickal tattooing she would be able to trigger the magicks put into them. Siriel was very confused, why would anyone want to harm her?

Qillathe, ignored the question and continued on. The bad news that Qillathe had for Siriel is that her father was killed. She didn't know by whom or how but she knew that he had been killed. The mix of the news of her father and the pain she still felt from the tattoos was too much for her. She broke down rested her head in her mothers lap and just wept.

When Siriel woke up she was laying in her own bed, the druids had obviously lifted her out of her mothers bed and brought her to lay in her own bed. She looked very confused, at first until she figured out where she was. She dressed herself in her outdoor clothes and left out the backdoor. As she walked out into the woods she felt the burning sensation of the tattoos on her arms, and she wasn't sure if the throbbing in her head was because of the horrendous news her mother told her or because of the other tattoos. She didn't know how far she had walked, she hadn't been paying attention, she was mulling everything over in her head. She just kept coming up with more questions. Why would someone want to kill her father? why is she in danger? who would want to harm their family? after all this,is Laurlinis alright? All she knew was she needed to talk to her mother again when she got home.

All of a sudden she heard a twig snap about 25 feet behind her. She could kick herself, she's never had anyone sneak up on her before. She swung around ready to fight hand to hand if needs be. Standing behind her was Ridley, looking like a cat that had just eaten the canary. She was so overwhelmed by emotions, she ran to him and hugged him really close. Which surprised him, they'd never been this close before. She started to weep and blurted out everything that had been happening in the last few days, he listened intently. When she was finished, he gathered her close to him and they sat, he let her know how sad he felt for her family but other than that they just sat there in the woods holding onto each other.

The years went by and Siriel hadn't heard anything from Laurlinis since he sent the cloak, Qillathe hardly got out of bed anymore, she just seemed so weak. The other elves of the village would come by and still ask Qillathe's advice about one thing or another and they would bring different foods and such for the two of them. The druids came by at least once a day to come and sit with Qillathe. When Siriel wasn't taking care of her mother she could be found in the woods, most of the times she'd be out there with Ridley trying to teach him the stuff that her father had taught her. She'd also go out and wander the woods by herself. Qillathe would sometimes get on her case about going off into the woods by herself for so long.

One day after going out into the woods Siriel came back in a panic, she went into her mothers bedroom and as she had hoped Qillathe was by herself. Siriel had told Qillathe that she needed her guidance in a matter that her as her mother might not approve of. Qillathe remained quiet and just nodded at her daughter and waited for her to tell her story. Siriel had been out walking everyday for the last week, and she'd go out for hours and hours at a time, and a week and a half ago she had seen Ridley and he and she had been walking thru the woods, just talking and when it was time for them to come back they parted with saying that they would see each other the next day. When he didn't show up she didn't worry about it there have been times when he has done that before, but it had been a week and a half and she had not yet seen him nor heard anything from him. Qillathe knew that this is what was coming, she had not wanted to tell Siriel the news that she had seen before that he would not be coming back again. She did not tell her daughter that she knew that her friend had been killed, hunted down in the woods while he waited for her. She only told her daughter to go and fetch her cloak, and take it to the druids, and then to return to her.

When Siriel returned to her mothers room, her mother was out of bed, she was pulling stuff out of her wardrobe. Qillathe told Siriel that she was to leave the village, the day had been coming since her fathers death, she just didn't realize it would be so soon. Laurlinis had taken to the darker ways and let his jealousy eat at him over the years about the close relationship Siriel had with both of her parents. Qillathe shared her feeling that Laurlinis was the one who had killed Himo in the woods, and then fashioned her cloak out of his loyal companion Elkan. Siriel was horrified, she felt like she was going to be sick.

Qillathe continued to say that the druids were doing a dispel magick spell on her cloak so that she may still use it without any magicks Laurlinis may have had put on it. Siriel didn't want to use the cloak anymore, but Qillathe explained that it was the best thing for her to use. Then the horrible feeling washed over Siriel, she looked to her mother and asked straight out if Laurlinis killed Ridley, Qillathe couldn't lie to her daughter, she looked her straight in the face and said, yes.

Siriel sat down on the bed, she felt sick. Qillathe pulled out a pair of new leather leggings, a leather jerkin, new pair of knee high leather boots, a satchel and a belt. After pulling all of the clothing out and setting it on the bed, she sat beside Siriel gathered her in her arms and spoke comforting and reassuring words to her.

Siriel got dressed into the clothes that her mother had made for her, and when she was done, the druids brought in the cloak, she considered it with disdain but then remembered what her mother had said and put it in her sack. She was headed for the door when she turned and asked her mother... Where shall I go? Qillathe said one word as she hugged her daughter... Vintermor...