Naerthen

**Naerthen Starwind d'Thuranni** (he/they) is an elf bard and a Prismari student at Strixhaven.

## Parents:

My mother and father were part of a traveling troupe of entertainers. They mostly traveled around the middle of Khorvaire (Breland, Thrane, Cyre).

### Naivara Starwind d’Phiarlan (he/she/they)

Naivara was foremost an entertainer and found nothing more thrilling than holding an entire crowd of people enthralled with a show of illusion magic or physical, or hopefully both. Well, perhaps they found one thing more thrilling: using those same skills to pry out information to send back to House Phiarlan, or even on rare occasions, to complete an assassination contract on behalf of her House. It was House Phiarlan who funded the initial journey of this troupe over a century ago, before the last war, although it has been profitable on its own for a very long time. The War caused some problems, but did not produce a noticeable drop in either customers or income, as people need both entertainment and information all the more during times of conflict.

### Quarion Starwind (he/him)

Quarion met his wife Naivara when their troupe passed through his town early on its first circuit. Naivara was not intending to fall in love, as their personality most closely resembled mine, but their heart had other plans. That, and Quarion was very persistent. Not in a creepy way; even though they never talked about Naivara’s secret activities, it was more than obvious even then that here was an elf who could and would dispose of people who truly bothered them. Fortunately, Quarion’s respectful yet unrelenting attentions endeared him to Naivara and when their troupe left Valenar, Quarion left with them.

## Siblings

### Varis Sorrowstar (he/him)

Older. Alive. Laborer. Relationship: Hostile.

He was away from the troupe during the tragedy that wiped it out. He blames the Houses, the dragonmark, and the performing arts in general for the death of much of his family and views with disdain bordering on hatred anything to do with those things. He doesn’t seem to care that this puts a rift between him and his siblings, all that remains of his family. He earns a comfortable living as a dock worker in Sharn. His grief and bitterness makes it hard for him to maintain platonic or romantic relationships. Varis changed his surname from the family name of Starwind to Sorrowstar to reflect both his grief, and his choice to sever himself from family relationships with his remaining siblings.

### Thamior Starwind d’Phiarlan (he/they)

Older. Dead. Murdered. Relationship: (was) Friendly.

Everyone loved Thamior. They were particularly close with Varis, until the tragedy that wiped out the troup and killed Thamior. Thamior was not a particularly talented performer, but they were still responsible for a large amount of the troupe’s success because their shining personality was irresistible. Many of the troupe joked fondly that Thamior had gotten all the people skills and left none for me. This never offended me because it was so clearly true, and any jealousy I might have had was impossible in the face of Thamior’s genuine affection and goodwill.

### Aelar Starwind (they/them)

Older. Alive. Artisan or guild member. Relationship: Friendly. Quite successful.

Aelar was also away from the troupe when the tragedy struck. They were performing in a play in Korranberg. Aelar stayed true to the family’s business of entertaining, but decided they liked the security of staying in one place, so they had settled down in Korranberg performing in the theater scene there. They get along with me but we were never particularly close.

## Childhood Memories

I spent most of my childhood alone, with no close friends. This was not a source of distress to me, however. I never understood children, as most of the troupe I traveled with were adults. Additionally, we were the only elves in the troupe, and although my parents were respected and admired, they had seen so many people come and go in the centuries they had been wandering that they spent most of their affection on their children rather than on people whose short lifespan and shorter attention span would see them leaving sooner rather than later.

## Class choice

I became a bard because my family were entertainers but I discovered my own talents bordered on the supernatural/magical. This likely had a lot to do with my dragonmark manifesting in adolescence, although perhaps not. Thamior also had the Mark of Shadows and my skills far surpassed their’s. My mother also had the mark, but not my father. I’m not sure my father ever knew for certain that my mother was more than just an entertainer, but he was not a stupid or unobservant person, so surely he suspected.

## Life Events

#### Inheritance

My troupe was successful and although some of its wealth was plundered when it was attacked, there remained enough there and in the account my parents set up for us with House Kundarak’s banks to support my siblings and me for the few years prior to entering Strixhaven, with enough left over to give me a start in my chosen field afterwards.

#### Work

While I am not technically considered an adult yet, as the child of traveling entertainers I have been “working” in some fashion or another practically ever since I could walk. As I grew this morphed into some of the illusion and acrobatics that were a hallmark of our performances. While I never received a particular wage for this work, I contributed to the overall success of our troupe and came away with a solid understanding of the fact that the more effortless a performance looks, the more work went into it.

#### An Enemy

At one point I made an enemy of an adventurer. They likely could not do anything at the time because I was still considered a child and was definitely under the protection of my parents, but it was enough to make me an enemy for life. This may have been an intentional or unintentional action on my part, but as I was a cold and formal little asshole it definitely came across as purposeful. I, however, likely don’t remember this event, or don’t assign any importance to it if I do.

#### A Ghost

At one point in my life I saw a ghost. This isn’t that unusual in fantasy world, but what made it special was that this ghost was clearly attending our performance, and enthralled by it. It gave my young self a thrill and a sense of power that we had the ability to move even the hearts of the dead with our performances.

#### A Fright

My troupe used illusion magic along with their very real physical skills in our performances. When I was very young I was caught up in a particular spell that my troupe was weaving and it both thrilled and terrified me. I hated that I lost control of myself and my senses even for a moment, but was thrilled that this power was my birthright and that eventually I would wield it as well.

#### Tragedy

My troupe and my family made it through most of the Last War relatively intact. In fact, it was probably that knowledge and the relaxing of security that led to its downfall in the end. A few years before what would be the end of the war, the troupe had camped at a town just outside of Cyre, preparing to travel back to Sharn. We might have been prepared for troops of one nation or another, or even for bandits. What we were not prepared for was for the mixed group of locals and refugees to suddenly turn from normal audience members into a violent mob in the middle of a performance. I’m still not sure what set them off; it could have been a joke, the flash of steel from a dagger in the performance, or perhaps even just the use of magic at all, with tensions high from years of war. Whatever it was, the mob tore through the performers and then the rest of the campsite, killing and looting and then scattering into the night, leaving almost nothing behind. I survived by turning Invisible, a spell that I had seen my parents use but never learned myself. Very few others did. Unknown to me, my parents survived but the death of my sibling, and as far as they knew, me, broke them. House Phiarlan took them in and provided them with a place to live in Sharn, quite unknowing that their eldest child lives there as well. I did not know this and turned my attentions toward survival and ended up being taken in by House Thuranni, which has now been my home for several years.

### Future Plans

Now I have received an invitation to study at Strixhaven, and while House Thuranni has plans for my particular skills and ambitions, they are more than willing to put those plans on holds for a few years while I study and learn magic and skills at a place few are privileged to attend. Currently I have my sights set on studying to be a Zephyrist in the college of Prismari, although some courses of study in Silverquill are intriguing as well…

## History at Strixhaven

#### Year 1

During the Orientation challenge, was part of a group of students who stopped an old trunk that had become sentient and was attacking students.

One month later while frog racing in the back of the Firejolt Cafe, helped subdue four frogs that turned giant and whose eyes turned red.

Just before his first-year midterms he was present in the Bow's End Tavern when a recipe went bad and mephits sprouted from the meal, making a mess of the kitchen.

After midterms, on Olarune 20, 994 YK, he and The Rose Buds were sent to the small town of Atessa, Cyre, near the border of Breland, to assist Watcher Alex and Professor Mavinda Sharpbeak find a young girl named Sally d'Cannith and help her get onto the lightning rail out of town.

He attended a poetry reading by Drazhomir Yarnask in the Biblioplex. Opening the ancient poetry book, a poltergeist escaped and attack those in attendance.

After final exams, during a performance on the Rose Stage Festival he and The Rose Buds stopped an owlbear attack when an owlbear prop came to life. The black balm found in previous events was found here as well. Assisted Silverquill Professor Johenne Totsky to cleanse the corrupted water of the Sedgemoor Bayou where the balm is made.

## Extracurriculars & Jobs

* Dragonchess Club
* (job) Firejolt Cafe as a server.