Eva Hoffer

Eva at the start of her journey into the desert.

### Family

Eva mentioned her family several times throughout the campaign, but never gave names for any of them. It was known that she had a sister as well as a niece and nephew that she helped raise.

### Profession

Farmer (Formerly)
Bandit (Formerly)

Caravan Guard

## Appearances

### Debut

Episode 1: Attans on the Border

Eva is a player character introduced in The Aelu'manisch Empire mini-campaign. She is a former bandit turned caravan guard, and she took up the contract with the same tenacious spirit that accompanied her to the end of her journey.

## **Description**

### **Personality**

Eva has a generally laid-back air that she uses to cover up deep seated guilt and trauma. She tries to be the person her friends can depend upon, and is always alert for signs of danger.

She also has trouble staying out of other people's business, especially if it seems like someone needs help.

Eva's most defining attribute, however, is her tenacity. It was the last thing left of her after her loss of sanity at the hands of Ruin and Ersa's Book.

## **Biography**

### **Background**

Eva grew up as a part of a family of farmers, and spent the first twenty-odd years of her life tending the farm and driving the produce into town. But when famine struck her home and starvation began to take its toll on the populace, she became vocal about the lavish feasts the village's Baronet, Sigmund, was throwing.

After her young niece and nephew died of malnourishment Eva turned bandit and began to steal Sigmund's supply wagons along with the help of her friend Keane and a band of villagers-turned-scoundrels. They ensured that the food they stole wound up in the homes of the villagers. Eventually this led to a confrontation with Sigmund himself and the catastrophic engagement ended with nearly everyone in her band dying, and herself mortally wounded.

She was saved by the manifestation of her Awnsheglien and Echo Knight powers, sealing her wounds and giving her just enough of a distraction to run Sigmund through.

The petty tyrant dealt with, Eva and Keane left their town behind, neither of them feeling that they had anything left to return to.

### The Fires of Vanir

After emerging from the portal, the party found themselves on the other side of the known world, on seaside cliffs near the city of Vanir in Nimrodea. Trying to find their way they hitched a ride with a boat captained by Anton, but before they could fully get their bearings fire began to fall from the sky and rock the landscape.

The Fall of Vanir was total, and the blast wave of the destroyed city rushed out over the small vessel. Eva spent her last minutes helping to pull drowning sailors from the waters before a gout of fire claimed her life.

As her soul was leaving her body the horrible voice of the spear Ruin cackled in her mind. Filling the now-empty vessel, Ruin was born. A woman with all of Eva's combat expertise and Awnsheglien power but none of the moral scruples that had held the spear's bearer back before.

## **Relationships**

Keane — Eva's best friend, the Druid was the only person from her past that stayed in Eva's life at the start of the campaign.

Farah — Eva considers Farah to be a confidant and a valuable ally, even if the two often butt heads over courses of action the group might take.

Ersa — Ersa has Eva's respect due to the kindness she shows to others, but Eva does consider her to be rather naive and tries to watch out for her as much as she can.

## **Character information**

### **Notable items**

Eva did not carry any magical items with her into the desert, and her prized glaive and splint mail were destroyed only days into their travels when the group encountered a swarm of Black Puddings. However, she did acquire one notable weapon on her journey.

#### Ruin, Spear of Ymir:

This sentient bone spear formed itself from the remains of an enemy Eva killed. Despite its manifestation, it seems to have an intelligence about it that is older than recorded history. The bone spear had a malevolent personality and delighted in feasting on the blood of Eva's enemies. It was notably jealous of being supplanted by other weapons, and would replace them in Eva's hands if she wielded another. After Eva's memories began to degrade due to the influence of Ersa's Book, Ruin used its influence to gradually shape the woman into little more than a vessel for the spear to direct at whatever creatures were unfortunate enough to be in the group's path.

### **Ancestry abilities**

Eva did not have any powers tied to her ancestry, but she did have a very keen understanding of how to use polearms to their greatest effect.

### **Class abilities**

Eva was able to manifest Echoes of herself, drawing on half-formed realities that might have been in order to fight as though she were standing in two places at once. These manifestations were physically quite frail and died easily if damaged, often causing a mirror wound to appear on Eva's own body, leaving her with many half-healed scars.

### Awnsheglien abilities

Eva possessed an incredibly powerful Bloodline aura, having awakened to Greater Semsara status well before the campaign even began. This power could have made her a noble in any settled area, but with Eva's mistrust for authority she preferred to stay as far away from civilization as possible. The abilities did, however, give her several edges in survival and combat.

#### Awareness:

Eva's senses were superhumanly sharp, as her bloodline directly boosted her perception. Later on in her adventures this ability grew as she attained Eyes of Radiance, giving her the ability to see perfectly in darkness as though it were daylight.

#### Fearsome Mein:

Eva's powerful bloodline aura had an added fear effect, allowing her to terrify creatures into blindly fleeing her after she harmed them or simply by touching them.

#### Regeneration:

Eva's most amazing Awnsheglien ability was a powerful healing factor. She was never in danger of bleeding out after harmed in combat, and passively healed her wounds over time even without resting or tending them. This power kept her alive and in peak physical condition through many encounters that should have killed her.

## **Quotes**

"***... seems like a wild Gnoll chase to me."***