Vera Root

by Mary Gillen

PC character for Mary Gillen. A young girl of mixed elven heritage: half Sin'dorei, half drow.

### What the PC Knows

Vera is a half-wood elf, half-drow girl, and is roughly 18 years old, both in human and elf years. She doesn't know her parentage, as she was found bundled up and abandoned on the stairs of Onedra’s temple in the Teldarin Forests as a baby one early winter’s morning.
Early on, Vera’s heritage drew concerns and comments as her appearance hinted strongly at her being part drow. To some she is a curiosity; to others, she is little more than a half-breed mutt - but she is often seen first as other and different, particularly by other elves. It is unlikely that other races would even notice anything particularly different about her. While Vera’s looks and mysterious appearance concerned many people, Eledith, an elderly elven woman and devout priestess, was unfazed. Eledith often used her status to make sure that Vera was protected from any harsh words and glances. As a result, Vera has grown up into a kind, curious young woman, if not sheltered, naive and a little bit lonely.
Vera has spent her life under the care of the temple hands, particularly Eledith, and has up until this point in her life devoted herself to worship of Onedra and the forests surrounding the temple. Rather than spend countless hours in prayer, however, Vera finds peace and guidance in the forest, basking in its quiet and stillness. She appreciates its wild beauty and understands its necessary cruelty.
It is in the forests that she begins to notice a blossoming affinity for magic. One evening, she ventures too far into the wilderness and cannot find her way home before the sun sets. Darkness falls and Vera begins to panic. She prays in earnest to Onedra and when she opens her eyes, notices four small glowing orbs surrounding her (Dancing Lights cantrip). She is somewhat comforted by the delicate light they emit and follows them safely back to the temple.
Eledith’s death in her 801st year does not come as a surprise, but Vera is deeply saddened nonetheless by her mentor and caretaker’s passing. Without Eledith’s influence, the temple becomes less and less like a home to Vera, and she soon makes the decision to leave it behind after much thought and consideration. She takes few belongings with her, but of note, she does bring Eledith’s final gift, a simple necklace with a thin silver chain and a white ash pendant which has Onedra’s sigil engraved into it. (This will be Vera’s druidic focus and is the holy symbol granted by her Acolyte background.)
Vera has an intense desire for experience, having led a relatively uneventful life up until this point. She does not have much real-world experience, and she has only traveled to the towns closest to the temple. This manifests in a few ways: She is eager to make friends and is quick to trust; she is quite naive, having very little real world experience; and her learned prejudices will be on full display (particularly against tieflings, which she views as aberrations and the enemies of natural order due to their fiendish bloodline and penchant for fire.

OTHER

Physical traits:
+ Vera is about 4'11"/5'0", small-boned and very slender.
+ Her skin tone is unique - not quite wood elf or drow - and is best described as a warm grayish kind of copper. She has a smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks.
+ Her hair is white, straight and cut short to about her chin. She has blunt-cut bangs that end just above her eyebrows.
+ Her eyes are a pale hazel, not unlike many wood elves. She has segmental heterochromia and has a patch of pale pink in the iris of her right eye as a nod to her drow heritage. It would not be noticeable unless someone were physically quite close to her.