Hi! @TheWordWeaver
I know it's late in the process and you've already marked her complete, but I would like to try to rethink Dae's backstory (... if I have time and it's ok with you)? There is a kernal of something I like in Dae but in some ways she's just "emo"... boring and unmotivated. So, I thought I might toss up some new thoughts in point-form as I may have questions?
P.S. If it's too late to change, I understand! I don't want to put work on you... 😄 I will withdraw and try again another time!
Edit: Just commenting this out for clarity - I think it's mostly been added above, but if there are differences... let's go with what is above.
Much of the mechanics would stay the same (except for her feat, some skills, magic items, etc). But... her story would be along the lines of:
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Born in Nemca to a simple fishing family, human, but with some elvish ancestory on her father's side -
Her half-elven grandfather was a travelling bard who drifted in and out of town, always full of grand stories. Young Diana wanted to be just like him and escape the perceived doldrums of Nemca. After much pestering, he began teaching her. She showed promise, a prodigy of sorts, and he started calling her Dae as she became his "little shadow" always following him around when he was home, trying to be just like him. - After a few years of regular visits, he eventually took Diana (then age 12) to play with him on a regular tours of nearby cities and states where he had a minor level of fame.
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When Diana was 15, Liadon took her to Ivory where the half-elf had the unfortunate luck of catching the eye of Samanthios... a triton pirate lord with a penchant for music. -
Taken in the night, they were brought to the pirate's main ship and spent 3 years aboard it... just surviving. And to survive, they played... at every whim of the Samanthios. Whenever Liadon tried to defy an order... Diana was threatened and/or beaten and so... he stopped trying. -
When Diane was 18, Liadon started suffering from painful blisters. His father was from Ansu and he had seen him die. As a half-elf, he hadn't been sure the disease would affect him, but there he was... with a limited time to live. -
Somehow, Liadon convinced his granddaughter to let him sacrifice himself to save her. At the right moment, he was able to create and defend a large enough fire in one of the holds of the ship to allow her to slip away into the water and get to shore. So, he did burn to death (she presumes) before the melting sickness brought him to the same end.
It was when she reached shore and drifted, performing, masked, under the pseudonym of Dae. She has tremendous surivor's guilt and feels the fiery dream is a punishment from the gods. This punishment only steels her iconoclastic views which believe no reasonable god would punish her and her grandfather for the music they made, nor the entire elven population of Ansu for just existing.
I will flesh things out as I have time in the next few days, but I thought I should verify whether half-elves can get Drake Blight?
Fears:
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That Samanthios would find her again and/or associate her family to Liadon or her and punish them -
That she would be enslaved again
Wants:
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To continue making music, to honour her grandfather -
To make something her life and make his sacrifice somehow worth it... she will take risks to help someone else -
To feel safe again
Dreams:
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To end slavery -
To find a cure for the Drake Blight