Iris

## Backstory

Iris was born in the countryside of Orzon county, Neullais. Her father, Baron Mainard, rules over Orzon's rolling hills and lush farmland. A kind man, Baron Mainard loved his daughter deeply. He and his wife, Sylvia, would do anything to see her prosper. They made an effort to help Iris socialize early on, and provided her with a happy and uneventful early childhood.

As Iris learned to read and learn on her own, there was less burden on her parents to be consistently present. Around this time, Baron Mainard turned his eyes back towards the rural countryside he presided over. Consisting mostly of sprawling farms and vineyards, there was rarely an excess of trouble for him to deal with. As a young man, he had set his eyes on building up his territory to one day give to his children. This was before he met Sylvia, a commoner, with whom he fell deeply in love. His love taught him to value a happy and healthy family over excessive personal aspirations, and he began to look inwards to the territories he already governed.

Since then, Orzon prospered, with the Mainard family at the heart of that success. Iris had many friends among both local nobility and the commoners of Orzon. Baron Mainard and Sylvia began cultivating an extensive vineyard on their estate soon after their marriage, and Iris soon showed interest in its operation. She began spending hours on end walking about the estate, appreciating the beauty of the Neullaisian climate. Certain she would always call it home, her wanderings took her farther and farther.

It was around this time that the scattered and prospering farms of Orzon caught the attention of local bandit groups. The farms were far apart and thus difficult to protect, which soon led to outbreaks of wanton theft, which stirred up a wave of fear among the local inhabitants. Baron Mainard, far from having dealt with this before and furious that the bandits would harm innocent folk, hired an expensive mercenary company to handle the problem. The company, experienced and well equipped, made short work of the bandits in a night raid. Though a few cowardly stragglers escaped their grasp, with the group scattered and the camp destroyed, Baron Mainard was convinced Orzon had found peace. Among those stragglers, however, was the group’s leader, Dex, who developed a smoldering hatred for the Baron.

Dex spent most of his time in the coming days plotting his revenge with a handful of friends he had escaped with. They subsisted off of stream water and pillaged the outskirts of nearby farms, laying low long enough to hopefully fade from the Baron’s mind. As they began to scope out the Mainard Estate, they observed Iris out on her daily excursions - alone. It didn't take a massive intuitive leap to understand the opportunity they had stumbled upon to hurt the Baron.

On the third week of Vigor Sun, 1091, they abducted her while she was out on a walk, and dragged her to a nearby cave. Terrified, Iris promised them a hefty ransom from her father. Dex, blind with rage and convinced that a structured ransom would leave them on a wanted list for the rest of their lives, refused. He explained with terrifying simplicity that he merely wanted to hurt her father. He took a long curved knife, and carved shallow cuts across Iris' face with the intention of leaving her permanently scarred. With no particular feelings toward the girl, Dex was attempting to create the worst scars he could. Iris, petrified and unable to scream for help, had little occasion to experience pain in her life. The excruciating pain of the carving paired with unprecedented fear completely broke something in her mind. Though it felt like an eternity to her, the gruesome act was over in a matter of moments, After which Dex and his underlings abandoned her and fled, never to return to Orzon.

Iris wandered mindlessly for quite some time, stumbling the entire way. The heat of the midday sun caked the blood on her face and clothing, mixed in with sweat and tears. When she eventually returned home and walked in the door, she collapsed in the entryway. Baron Mainard and Sylvia were sitting in the atrium, tasting their first bottle from the previous year’s vintage, when they noticed their daughter crumpled and in pain. They scrambled to help her, calling for their courier to ride for a cleric in Orzon township. Helping her to her bed in a sheer panic, neither the Baron nor Sylvia knew what to do. Iris was breathing heavily and not responding to them. When the cleric arrived to heal her, Iris was still in a stupor. After extensive care, she managed to regain her senses, but there was nothing to be done about the scars.

It took several weeks before Iris was willing and able to hold a conversation again. She spent most of her time alone in her room, staring at herself in the mirror and replaying the experience in her head. Unable to comprehend violence in her early childhood, experiencing it so brutally firsthand shattered her view of the world and other people. She wouldn’t allow anyone near her save for her parents, and had trouble sleeping.

She no longer roamed the grounds of the Mainard Estate, rarely even leaving her room. When she did see other people, they inevitably stared at her scars or asked her what happened. This sent her into a downward spiral of solitude and self-loathing, and she began to wear a mask to cover the scars. She requested that her father find her a tutor in the martial arts. He obliged, recruiting an experienced veteran from the Neullaisian army. Iris pursued her training with a fervor like nothing she had known in her life. Before long, she grew skilled in spear fighting.

During a sparring bout at the age of 16, when she insisted on training in spite of a torrential downpour, Iris' abilities as an adept manifested. She was left convulsing on the ground and releasing gouts of lightning that could be seen from miles away. Though none were harmed, Iris knew her life changed as much on that day as it ever had. In Neullais, adepts were sent to be “purified” - a ritual that few survived. Knowing this, her tutor declined to reveal her secret to any, save her parents. He cared for her, but would not scandalize himself by training the "black-blooded," and departed that night. Out of love for their daughter, Baron Mainard and Sylvia resolved to keep it secret. They helped Iris to train and control her powers so that none would discover her nature. This greatly impacted their search for a suitable political marriage, as they now sought one who would be willing to keep their same secret.

Many suitors quickly rejected the notion for a multitude of reasons - most often on account of her scars, but on occasion because the Mainard’s territorial ambitions were long stagnant and unappealing for an aspiring noble family. It seemed that no noble in Neullais wanted to pawn their son off to a young woman who refused even to remove her mask. Baron Mainard never accepted defeat, continuing to search. After a certain point, Iris could no longer take it. She sat down with her parents, and expressed that she didn't want to stay in Neullais. She had experienced little but pain in the four years since her scarring, and wanted to find a new life. The Baron, incapable of having more children and heartbroken by his daughter's suffering, fought it for several weeks, but eventually, he and Sylvia realized they had little choice. If they didn't support their daughter in this, they would fail her utterly.

With her parent’s love and blessing, and a great deal of tears, Iris set off to make a life for herself. With a fat purse from her father, and an exquisite set of armor crafted by Neullasian artisans, she left home. She has spent nearly a decade wandering Etlan, working in various capacities as a caravan guard or mercenary. Today, Iris still hasn't found a place she feels comfortable calling home. Of late, she has been saving up to make the ocean voyage to Verroa, thinking that a new continent might treat her better than the one she once called home. Though Iris believes this is possible, her hopes are not high.

## In Gameplay

### Aptitudes

Personal Skill - Tides of Resolve: Heals for a portion of critical damage dealt

### Bonds

* Maren
* Elias
* Bianca
* Caius
* Vesta
* Monroe
* Thae'Lanel
* Faust
* Rose
* Alexa