Faerlin’s story was not uncommon among the citizens of Vel Anir. Born to one of the poorest families in the city, her father had been a failed and soldier in the army, who was forced to work on repairing the walls and buildings that kept them all secure, while her mother had been a washerwoman. The two of them hadn’t loved each other, per se, but had banded together for mutual survival. Indeed, Faerlin remembered her parents fighting constantly, the stresses of life causing them to take it out on one another because they couldn’t take it out on anyone else.

They had very little time for Faerlin growing up; indeed, she was left to her own devices more often than not. As a result, she grew up wandering the streets, doing odd tasks and running messages for just a little bit of coin or food, learning to keep herself disciplined and strong where her parents were not. Indeed, lacking the parents to teach her the ethics and morals most children learned, Faerlin instead took her lessons from the culture of Vel Anir itself.

When she had free time, she would spend it watching the soldiers drilling, sometimes even trying to emulate their graceful and strong movements. They represented the best that Vel Anir had to offer, and Faerlin yearned to one day be them. Luckily, the Anirian Guard accepted women, so that dream could come true one day. So long as Faerlin survived to see it.

Her life changed one summer when she was ten. She’d been running messages, and one of them had taken her to the temple of Nykios. Neither of her parents were religious at all, more prone to curse the gods than worship them. Still, after her task was complete, she stood in the back, allowing the words to wash over her. Something in them struck a chord deep within her, one that resonated in time with the beat of Vel Anir’s ideals.

The day she came of age, Faerlin enrolled in the Guard under the banners of House Weiroon, though she holds no particular fealty to that family, but rather to Vel Anir as a whole. She quickly became known as one of the most talented recruits in their ranks; unfortunately, that reputation was matched only by her reputation for having a harsh personality, which prevented her from being considered for a role as an officer. She didn’t even notice, too focused on honing her mind and body into weapons.

One day, in a particularly vicious—and annoyingly even—sparring match, she growled out “Nykios take you.” To the surprise of her, the onlookers, and her hapless opponent, the man she was facing let out a scream of pain and collapsed. When they finally peeled the armor off him, they found him covered in sores. It was then that Faerlin understood that her devotion to Nykios had paid off, and that she was one of the blessed few chosen to wield his divine might. From that day forward, her zeal doubled, and her training was altered so that she could develop both her divine magic and her combat skills in a devastating combination. Even today, her abilities in both magic and might set her apart from her fellow Guards, and she finds that completely acceptable.