Vail, the Lone Bristanii

Vail is a tiefling born in a Bristanii gypsy caravan within The Principality of Asheria to Aleesia Liaynore, nine months after a tryst with a mysterious individual. From his adolescence to teen years, Vail performed various odd jobs for his caravan, ranging from helping bind horses to the wagons to preparing foods such as stews and sweet breads. His mother, one adapt in the practice of both music and healing magics, would teach her son the working and joys of weaving the two together by using a gifted string instrument from the Meritocracy of Carthigan far to the north. As Vail grew, he would inquire about his father. His mother told him a tale of an injured man that came to the caravan in need of treatment. She described him as kind but aloof, always stoic but glints of a gentler side.   When Vail was twelve years old, he began having strange dreams. In these dreams he would see heroes of old and adventures performing great deeds in the world, fighting opposing armies and taking down monstrous beasts. Every night, it was a caravan tradition to tell stories around the campfire. Vail decided to volunteer and begin reciting these dreams in the form of tales and stories of grandeur, piecing in what he could to bring life to these dreams. The crowd was completely enthralled by the narrative and in due time, Vail would be the one to tell these stories every chance he could get.   As he would become a young adult, the tiefling began to notice that some of the locals who stopped to rest at the caravan would sit and listen to his tales, despite his infernal heritage and appearance. Some of the people even began to tell him that they were so deeply inspired his stories that they started to act on their dreams ranging from romantic pursuits to folk heroes of their villages and hamlets.   Once the war started, Vail's once peaceful caravan life would change forever. Travelling across the land, the caravan passed war torn villages where the gypsies would help any survivors from the fights. Eventually, a strange middle aged half-elf woman joined the caravan that Vail suspected to be a steward to a noble family. She never really shared her name with anyone and tended to keep to herself for the most part, save for when helping with caring for survivors. Despite her hard looking exterior, Vail seen that she showed kindness to children when she thought no one was looking. This woman had traits his mother had spoken about regarding his father. Every now and then, Vail would see her staring into a locket seemingly lost in thought. In time, the caravan would be stopped and questioned by troops from a foreign land. When forced to defend those hiding from the troops, the half-elf would show to be skilled in the aptitude of blade and magic. During an ambush within the night, the steward disappeared after leading a group of slavers away from the caravan. After trying to search for her, the presumption was grim on what could have transpired between the half-elf and the seasoned blood merchants. Unable to spare the manpower to find her to assist, the caravan was forced to move on.   Sometime later, Vail would dream once. Where in the past the heroes were faceless and up for his interpretation, this time he would recognize the woman. The half-elf steward from before, frame clad in shadow and shades of silver, pleaded to Vail to make contact with a group of refugees that had grown in size and hid within a nearby hamlet. The dominion was marching towards the farmland and if nothing was done they would be discovered. Vail agreed to do this favor, paying the woman back to all that she had done in the past. Making the assumption that this dream was a magical vision or the spirit of the woman, he moved quietly in the night as time would not permit him to rally his people.   Initially, the tiefling was met with distrust. It took quite a while to convince the frightened people to move from their safety into the dense forest line. Shortly after the leaders of the group collected a head count, Vail began to see flames rise from the south. This was the direction from whence he came from. Where the caravan was. Logic lost to fear, Vail cried out and began to run in this direction but was retrained by some of the refugees. Black smoke and violent screams punctuated the dawn with the loss of his family and mother. He had saved this group of people but at what cost to himself? Having nowhere else to go, Vail joined the Asherans he had saved and headed with them to the west.     Nothing but memories were left behind in the attack. Dominion troops torched everything and those that escaped, like Vail, joined Asherans fleeing somewhere to the west. During his travels, Vail grew close to a particular couple. Reiner and Katelyn, along with their daughter Saige, would ultimately become like a second family to Vail. Despite both parents having no infernal heritage, the child and Vail had a kinship of being with the same blood. Dreams have become restless to him, clouded like that black smoke from that night. The scent of his burning home and people shakes him awake and wretch in his stomach. Sometimes he has dreams of his mother, urging him to not blame himself for what happened and to continue to tell his tales of hope and heroes for these dark times. The people need hope. This is now his people.