Laurel Silver Sylf'vester

His early childhood was spent with just him and his mother. She put it as poverty and a difficult life - to any commoner it would have been counted as getting along sort of ok. But, she was from a rich elven family whose business was fancy silks. She had been kicked out of the house during pregnancy since a series of events and an unwillingness on her part to state the name of the father (probably in reality it was just that she has had a one night stand with some rival family) had led the rest of the family to believe that she had tried to elope with a tiefling or minatour some such unacceptable race. Apparently, that misunderstanding was better for her pride than admitting to having a thing for whoever she had had a thing with or gotten drunk with.

So he grew up on her savings with her always complaining about money. She didn't have that much interest in him but kept him alive and sent him out to play a lot. That was hard because elves weren't really seen much in their poor people neighbourhood and most people there didn't like elves very much.

It wasn't terrible persecution but he did tend to not be allowed to play with the other kids and sometimes he got beaten up a bit (bruises not broken bones).

He found a place to hang out finally when he was about 7 or so, when he wandered into a gnomish tavern on account of avoiding an unpleasant gang of other children. There was an old gnomish musician there who was playing gnomish folk songs and Laurel was spellbound. He got noticed by the gnomes but they were a bunch of old guys who ended up tolerating him and teaching him some of the music. The musician he liked best was also a tinkerer who made instruments. And who gave him some of their prototypes to learn with.

Since his mother was always complaining about money and how expensive he was, he took up busking for extra cash. Almost all of it went to his mother to help with expenses. When he was much older, he would look back and realise she could still afford perfect hair cuts and manicures for herself, so all that effort was probably pointless, especially seeing as he ended up eating most meals at the gnomish tavern for free in exchange for instrument making assistance.

Teenage years: He ended up doing a lot gnomish tavern performances as he grew up, and kept busking for money. One day while he was performing, he got noticed by a wandering bard who suggested he apply for a scholarship for bardic college. He did so, got the scholarship, went to college. It was a lot of fun, but pretty far from his mother. While he studied, he did exceptionally. He even ended up in what was later referred to as the "breakage incident", where a series of bad management events resulted in a monster break on campus/in town. Laurel ended up distinguishing himself very well in the defense, and got a medal and everything.

After graduating, he went back home to convince his mother to move. It turned out that she had made up with his uncles a good while ago and never let him know. All his letters had gone unread, and it took a lot of effort to track her down. He only figured it out because his cousin had thought to send him a letter.

The family reunion didn't go too well after that. His mother was "frail and delicate" after all her years in exile and uninterested in being more than a decoration at his uncles. His uncle was quite happy to accept him into the family too as long as he behaved like a proper elf and stopped selling himself like a common pleb with music and learned the family business.

Laurel was not impressed. He had paid his own way through life and wasn't about to say yes sir thank you sir at the asshole who had thrown them out in the first place. His cousin Ffyr was nice enough though, so they talk sometimes. Ffyr opened a bank account for him on his own initiative with what would normally be an amount Laurel would have been born into. Not having all that much elvish pride, but a lot of gnomish practicality when push comes to shove, laurel did not refuse to spend a penny of it. Also it makes his uncle angry.

After that, he still sometimes hangs out with the gnomish community and performs when requested. Sometimes he essentially get kidnapped by some of his college mates who want him to perform or write a piece. And he floats around falling in love with people and writing a lot of love songs and being generally shameless.

Male (but oh so pretty)

Always falls in love with women. Writes poetry about women. Ok with one night stands for men.

Taught the basics by a community of gnomes and an elvish mother (home/tavern schooled).

Attended bardic college and passed with the highest degree, valedictorian.

Occasionally performs for money (but mostly just for free lodging), gets gifts from fan girls/boys (weirdly only the ones he's not in love with), has a lot of money he got for freebies in the bank.

Real employment? What's that? Is it beautiful?

Got through bardic college with special fancy marks.

Was instrumental in the defense of an area in college that ended up in part of an attack. Also did some adventuring quests when he was in college for extra cash to send to his mom. Who wasn't there. Got an award. only the people who have specifally looked this up or who were there know about that incident.

Lots of embarrassments and rejection (mostly when he was young) on account of him being an elf. Some performance flops when he first started busking - it took ages to get good enough to actually get any money.

Lots of rejection from the women he has a things for. maybe that's just his type. Sometimes he gets beaten up by angry/jealous boyfriends.

It got the point a long time ago where Laurel just stopped being embarrassed.

Discrimination from the neighbors when he was a kid, his mothers indifference when he was growing up and then her straight up just leaving without saying anything don't seem like they've affected him.

But they have. They've left him very apathetic and indifferent to the things around him. And he never expects people to actually care about him.

This never shows because he would like to be someone who cares. That's why he throws himself so hard into being infatuated and generally pleasant to be around (not counting the incessant love songs

songs). He would like to be someone capable of around about the world around him. So he tries (and usually fails but at least he manages to deceive himself, sometimes).

Laurel tries to obey the law, since its there for a reason. If the rules are dumb and he won't get caught, he's happy to break them. He wants to be a decent person so generally he'll do the decent thing. Unless it's for love, he's unlikely to be self-sacrificing. Although he might if he has good reason and it'll make a good ballad.

Mother (basically estranged)

Uncle (they try not to see each other becaus bad things happen when they do)

Cousin (get along pretty well, they even talk to each other and do favours sometimes)

Some other extended family who he almost never meets and doesn't really know much about

Old gnome

College friends