Klali

Klali is an aarakocra Beastmaster Ranger played by Tara in Among the Bones of the Second Age.

## Backstory

Klali isn’t sure where she came from. She knows her village was in the mountains and there was lots of trees and greenery around it, but almost everything else she knew about it has been forgotten over the years. Even the names of her family that lived there, or still lives there. She really hopes it’s the later of the two.

She does remember how she and her older sister would play together in the woods, daring each other to do the stupidest things before getting caught. Her mother who was strict with her children, but was always kind too. Most days she would let them have a piece of something sweet before their dinner, even if their dad was against it. And her dad, who was a protector of their town and was gone a lot of the time because of it. However when he was home, he always tried to take part in their little games.

The happy times of her childhood came to a stop when she was barely one. The town was attacked by a group of slavers and last memory of it is of her getting hauled off by a pair of men with a sack over her head, screaming for her mother.

After that, Klali was thrown onto a ship where she lived in a cell for what seemed like weeks, living off the scraps of food and water they’d periodically give her. She only saw a few others from her town in the other cells, but there were a number of others who had been there from before she arrived. A few of them talked of escaping or taking over the ship, but after one of the prisoners wounded a slaver in an attempt to do so, he was thrown overboard. They were watched much more strictly after that and all talk of escaping died as well.

When they finally made land again, the men quickly sold her off to the noble Thoma family in Whitemarch, West Morsetta. They put her in a closet sized room with just enough room for a small bed and table. During her years living there, she became many things to the family. Mainly, she found herself to be an exotic show piece of sorts in a house full of humans, but she also took on many roles of a servant: preparing food, cleaning the house, making beds, and other various chores. Most days if she behaved and kept quiet, no harm would come to her. However, the head of the house, Samuel, had a few anger issues and would act them out on her. He always made sure to keep it to areas that could easily be covered up with clothing, just in case they had visitors.

The only comfort she had was of a friendship she had formed with one the other slave, Gwenda. She was an elderly half-elven woman who often acted as a motherly figure for Klali, often looking out for her as best she could given the circumstances. Gwenda made sure she had food, dressed up her wounds, stitched her clothes, and was the one who she believes to have truly raised her into the woman she was today. She even took the time to secretly teach her some Elven in exchange for Klali teaching her Aarakocra.

After four years of living in that place, Klali had finally built up enough courage to find the perfect opportunity to escape. She pleaded with Gwenda to go with her, but she was much too old and fragile to make such a trip. She instead pushed the younger girl to go alone while she created a distraction. And so, with the help of her friend, she grabbed all the money and jewelry she could get a hold of and snuck away.

Klali flew as far as her wings would take her, and when they wore out, the ran as far as her legs would allow before finally collapsing. Eventually, she was able to make it to another city and buy her way onto a boat, where she made her way to Kal’dein.

Due to being unable to find jobs, she lived on the streets of Greyheart for a while, having to resort to begging or pick pocketing to survive. That is until she tried to pickpocket the wrong man. The man, Nuran Hache, was a member of the Desert Rangers and took pity on her. He offered her a meal at a nearby tavern. Over the course of their meal he learned of her history and he decided to help her out. He invited her to stay with him, until she was able to get a place of her own, and maybe join the Desert Rangers herself one day. She was hesitant of him at first and refused, not knowing him well enough to trust him. But, after he continuously checked up on her to make sure she wasn’t starving or sick, she eventually took him up on his offer.