Appearance

Physical Description

slight and wiry

Apparel & Accessories

• A simple chest wrap, loose pants, and sandals


• Several piercings in each ear


• A tiny leather pouch around her neck, containing a single button and a document to remind her of her brother


• A sturdy, carefully-maintained tome containing her research notes


• A larger cloth pouch full of seashells, sea glass, oddly-shaped driftwood, and other gifts for Torfinn (if she ever sees him again)

Special abilities

shooting flames out of her hands :)

Mentality

Personal history

Born in Vasselheim and raised helping in her fathers' chemist shop, Svalna's life was fairly normal until age 13. That was when Vecna, on the back of an undead titan, in his city drawn forth from the Shadowfell, made his final march towards godhood. Remnant cultists flooded the streets, killing indiscriminately. Gloomstalkers picked off those who fled, biting them in half or swallowing them whole. And above it all, the titan crushed massive swaths of the ancient city--which had once been considered the safest place in the world.
 
Svalna lost one father (Ivan) and an older sister (Olga) to the initial devastation. The survivors of her family hid under a gloomstalker corpse for hours, maybe days, until it was over.
 
But the trauma and the otherworldly, depressive magic took their toll. Mere months later, Svalna's older brother (Niklas) took his own life. Her remaining father (Hans) had a psychotic break at the news. He was taken to the temple of Saren-Rae for treatment, and remains (perhaps permanently) institutionalized. Svalna tried to take care of five-year old Torfinn, but she had her own issues. She eventually made the painful decision to put her younger brother in foster care with a more stable family.
 
She nearly went the way of Niklas. But there, in the ruins of her childhood home, with the gargantuan foot of the titan frozen a hundred feet above, Svalna made a promise to herself. "I will not die here, and I will not die the person I am." Knowing she needed a purpose to drive her life, she joined up with a group of traveling minstrels who belonged to the Golden Grin. They wandered Exandria for a good five years, until Svalna discovered another opportunity to find meaning: the Cobalt Soul. She joined their Nicodranas branch and immersed herself in study; natural curiosity propelling her along. The darkness of the Shadowfell still eats at her soul, but she gets up in the morning, pastes on a smile, and tries to do whatever good she can.

Education

• Apprentice chemist (ages ~5 to 13)


• Cobalt Soul monk training (past 5 years)

Mental Trauma

Shadow-touched: in addition to her vast, horrific mundane trauma, the lingering magical residue of the Shadowfell in Thar Amphala permanently scarred her mind and soul, burdening her with a supernatural darkness that never goes away.

person.sexuality

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

person.gender_identity

casually female, she/her/hers

Taboos

violently hates tyranny

Known Languages

Common, Primordial

Personality

Motivation

• Surviving the darkness of trauma and depression that took most of her family


• Guarding the common folk against unnatural threats like the one that ruined her life.

Social

Birthplace

Vasselheim

Current Residence

Nicodranas

Family Ties

• Torfinn (younger brother, would currently be 15 y/o): Svalna was extremely close to him, and her greatest regret was that she couldn't take care of him better. She keeps a bag of shells and other interesting trinkets in the hopes that one day she will find him again.


• Ivan (father): He was a guard in the Braving Grounds district, where the family lived. Svalna had a good relationship with him, and enjoyed the 'expeditions' he would take her on to other districts of the city.


• Hans (father): Svalna spent most of her youth working as an assistant/apprentice in his chemist's shop. The two had quite a rapport, teasing each other and bantering endlessly. His mental breakdown and subsequent institutionalization shook her to the core.


• Olga (older sister): Svalna adored and idolized her sister, who was about 8 years older than her. Olga served as a minor Scalebearer at the Platinum Sanctuary, and was often sent away on missions. Though Svalna loved her work at the chemist's shop, she always secretly dreamed of being a mighty, righteous warrior like her sister.


• Niklaus (older brother): These two were not terribly close--Niklaus was 11 years older than Svalna, and spent most of his time working as a merchant in the Quadroads. However, she always saw him as a clever, put-together person, and his suicide devastated her. 

Speech

soft Irish accent, with a hint of Jester