Kerenelle

Description

You are War Healer Kerenelle Su'otsu of the Order of the Dragon Shield, a Human. You have an oval face, sparkling blue-green eyes and an upturned nose. Your golden brown-streaked brunette hair is very long and curly, and is worn tied back in an elegant chignon held in place by a lifelike Elven silver dolphin haircomb set with tiny sapphire chips. You have fair skin and a shapely figure. You are a bit over average height for a Human. You are an adult. You are in good shape.

You are wearing a coarse gargoyle-hide cowl sealed with protective wax, some silver wire-framed spectacles with streaky ocean-blue lenses, a beautifully draped Elven wool cloak edged with delicately crafted cream-colored horses, a snow white spidersilk robe embroidered with a golden-maned unicorn, a blighted gold ankle cuff, a black targe bearing a rearing stallion encircled by a bronze laurel vine, a silver parry stick embellished with undulating waves of pearls, a delicate wedding band of blued moonsilver set with an ocean's heart diamond, a silver filigree ring accented by geshi pearls to resemble a crashing wave and some deep blue windfish-scale sandals.

Early Life

Kere was raised in country called Andovarr, the daughter of a man who was the second-in-command to the baron of a rustic province. Upon the return of the Baron's wife, who was sickly in health, to her family following the birth of the baron's first child, Kere's mother was pressed into service as the Lady of the Keep, where she proved to have an unexpected knack for running the household. With both of her parents busy, young Kere had plenty of time to roam about the Keep, and she eventually happened upon the quarters of the Baron's Physician, an older man by the name of Senex, and while his first instinct might have been to send the child back to her mother, he observed her mixing a simple healing draught for an upset stomach and he couldn't help but be curious. Asking the child what she was doing, Kere replied, "My dolly's tummy hurts and I'm making her medicine." Then asking why she chose to mix the particular herbs she had in the amounts she had, Senex was astonished to hear the reply, "I dunno. Just seemed right." When he told Kere's mother about the incident, she just laughed and said that it was probably the family gift, that there had always been at least one healer in every generation of her family, and although she herself didn't have the gift, her sister Kerennya had had it and now perhaps Kere had it as well. Senex then began training Kere, teaching her to recognize various healing herbs and where to find them, having her assist him in preparing them, and having her deliver various potions and draughts to those in the surrounding area who were ill. This proved to be a godsend for Kere, for it helped keep her out of the path of her father, who never spoke to her except to criticize her or order her around. By the time she was 12, she thoroughly despised and distrusted her father, for there were rumors that both he and the Baron, a man by the name of Toblaron, were tied to the disappearance of various people in the province.

However, Kere's mother loved her truly, and Kere loved her as much as she despised her father. After a few years, it became apparent that Kere definitely had the family healing gift, and one day her mother handed her some journals. She told her that they had been written by Kere's Aunt Kerennya, who had died when Kere was a toddler, and that Kere might find them interesting, since Kerennya had also been a healer. It took Kere a few weeks to actually get around to cracking the first journal open, but once she did, she was hooked, for Kerennya was a good writer, and had written of a big argument she had had with Kere's mother Luminara over her decision to marry Kere's father, and of her subsequent decision to leave her sister to her own devices for a while. Kerennya had sailed to a place called Elanthia, and the journal contained vivid descriptions of the people and locale, and the details of empathic healing. Kere was quite fascinated by this latter, and thought how much easier healing would be if you could just transfer wounds to yourself and then heal yourself at will. Feeling a kinship to her aunt and knowing that her own name was a combination of her aunt's name and her father's mother Nelle, Kere then determined that if the opportunity ever arose, she, too, would go to Elanthia one day.

One day when Kere was 12, Senex was complaining about not being able to harvest a fairly rare herb before it was past potency. Having been invited to join the herb gatherers for the first time the year before, Kere had noted a spot where this particular herb was likely to be found, and, wanting to do Senex a favor as well as avoid her father's notice, she set out the following morning to find the herb. After a good 2-hour hike, she eventually found and collected the herb, and as she began her way back to the Keep, bandits accosted her. However, before the bandits could finish binding her hands and ankles, an arrow whizzed out of nowhere and took one through the throat. The other two bandits immediately fled, for they had only been looking for easy prey, and within a few minutes, 3 men came out from hiding and demanded to know what she was doing in the forest alone. Kere's heart raced, uncertain as to whether these men were friends or foes. The youngest of the 3 men seemed to sense that she was frightened and began speaking to her with calm, soothing tones. Seeing kindness in his eyes, she haltingly told them that she was only gathering herbs for Senex, the Baron's Physician, and at this the three shared a look. The youngest man then introduced himself as Darlton and told her that Senex was known to them and was considered a friend, and that while his friends would not be able to escort her all the way back to the Keep and even he himself would not be able to take her that far, he would take her as far as the main road that led into the Keep. On the walk back, Kere found him surprisingly easy to talk to and told him that she never traveled by the main road, since she preferred to avoid notice by the Baron's guards who were likely to report her presence there back to her father, and if he would let her take her route, he could accompany her to within sight of the Keep. Raising an eyebrow in surprise at this, Darlton agreed and told her to tell Senex that Perdith and her son Darlton sent their greetings and to please send as many healing herbs as possible. When asked where the herbs should be sent, Darlton simply replied that Senex would know. Kere made it back safely, and when she relayed Darlton's message, Senex merely nodded and then pressed her for the details of how they had met. When Kere told him, Senex told her that he would never let her harvest or deliver another herb ever again if she ever wandered off without telling him where she was going again, that the reason he was not able to harvest the herb was that there had been reports of bandits in that area and that she could have been killed. Sobered, Kere took his lecture in silence.

Kere's Arrival in Elanthia

How Kere came to Elanthia is a mystery that even she can't fully explain. Fleeing in fear of her life following the suspected murder of her mother by her father, she got on a boat that set sail, and remembers being told to stay below deck for the next few weeks due to bad weather. She also remembers being told in the middle of the night that she had arrived at her destination, a town called Riverhaven, and waking the next day, her 25th birthday, at Aldamus House. She already knew something of the guilds of Elanthia from her aunt's journal, and there was never a question as to what her guild would be. With at least one healer in the last several generations of her family (including her Aunt Kerennya), and having already trained as a healer in Andovarr, she immediately marched up to the Empath's Guild and told Nebela Mentrade that she wanted to join. She didn't realize until about year later when she was talking about her past with friends that Andovarr is not a known country of Elanthia.

Kere spent her first several circles up in Riverhaven, preferring the less crowded feel of that city to those of the Crossing. She made many friends hanging out outside of the Haven ranger tent, and eventually became an Estate Holder. When the came, she purchased a cottage outside of Haven's North Gate.