Rhythm (of the Wind)

## Appearance

Rhythm is a 24 year old Tabaxi female who slightly resembles a cold tundra lynx with point tufted ears and fur that shifts between white, grey, and some elements of black. She is just over 5' 8" in height with a trim but muscular build, her fur covering most all of her body though her hands appear to be a melding of human and feline. The skin beneath her fur is incredibly pale while her clawed nails are a stark black. She has some scars across her body, a tear in one ear, and a slit across one eyelid.

While she doesn't particularly wear armor, she does have a well made leather breastplate made from small intricately cut and stitched leather leaves of emerald and sage greens and mustardy yellow golds. These leather leaves are bound together with green and tan and brown leathers alongside thin yet strong vines. At the neck, resting upon her collar bones and going the full way around, is a deep stained bark necklace with a stone set in the center. Beneath this, she wears a ring of her mothers on a simple silver chain.

Rhythm rarely wears shoes, her paws well worn and callused with claws that help her gain footing in various terrain. On her hands she wears brown leather gloves with the tips cut from the thumbs and pointer fingers.

## Background

Born somewhere in the forests, she was abandoned by her birth parents before she reached a year of age. Thus, she is unaware of who they might be, whether they are alive or dead, and most of all she is unaware of why she was left behind.

Whether by luck or the nature of the Gods she was found by a good-natured human woman named Beada Lovelace. With no other family and no personal connections, she gave all of her love to this found child and raised her as her own.

With help from Beada, this child learned a love of all things natural. Beada had a gracious nature and would give care, comfort, and assistance to any and all creatures, from animal to human to non-human, who came to her.

This child had a knack for helping things grow and connected with the creatures which would come from the forests. These plants and creatures became her closest, and only, friends. Beada had taught her the little nature magic she knew, but was endlessly amazed by what her tabaxi daughter was capable of as she grew. When she began to transform herself into other creatures, particularly a fluffy pure white house-cat, Beada realized that her child was a true druid and not merely touched with magic as she had been.

Beada also realized that her child had a special connection with nature, more than other druids who's paths had crossed hers. While still small and fragile and young, the girl had a way of always finding the best foods in the forest, finding the best camping sites, and finding her way in the woods. At this time, when she was 10, Beada gave her a true Tabaxi name. Before she had been known as Snow, for the stark white of her fur. Yet this wasn't a proper Tabaxi name, a name which described not merely the person but their nature, their being, their soul. Now, Beada gave her the name Rhythm of the Winds, for she had the ability to feel the rhythms of the world around her and follow them.

Rhythms peaceful and happy life wouldn't last long though. When she was only 14, Beada  became ill. Though her mother never asked, Rhythm became her caregiver. For years she had seen Beada take care of so many, she felt it was only right to do her best to do at least this for her. The illness was incurable and deadly though, and in but a few short months Beada died quite peacefully in her sleep. In the end, Rhythm could not stop the inevitable, regardless of how hard she tried and how much she prayed to any god that might listen.

It was then that she learned how the rest of town really felt about her being there. While they didn't run her out, they made it known that she was not welcome any longer. Beada had been sheltering her from the mean spirited looks and vile curses they spat her way under their breath for her entire life. Now she heard them all, as the shopkeepers and families she had lived beside her entire life spared nothing in showing their detest for her. It took less than a week for her to realize she needed to leave.

And so, after burying her mother in a small clearing of the forest near where Beada had taken her on every "findings-day" (their version of a birthday celebration), she packed her things and went back into the forest she had been brought from all those years ago.

10 years have now passed since that day.  The forests have been her home as she continues exploring, wandering, and learning what she can from those whose paths she crosses.

At one point a band of Nomadic Druids called the Clamor of Mists, or simply the Mists, made contact with her and helped her to better harness the powers which she had always innately known. Their leader Kho tried to convince her to join them as they journeyed through the continents, but she turned them down. She still looks for messages from them though each time she comes to a town, or to a fork in the road. The little symbols and scratches and cuts in the bark which others might overlook if they don't know this strange form of Nomadic Druidic.

All of these years as she travels, she's been fighting and keeping her head down and avoiding civilization as much as possible. Not ready to be turned away and dismissed in the same way she had after her mother's death. Those people she had known her whole life dismissed her for something she had no control over, and now she has been unwilling to give anyone the opportunity to do so again. While Beada had shown her true love and caring, she quickly learned that the world was not always that kind, loving, or caring. She learned that there was evil in the world, that there was hatred, and more than anything else that there was prejudice.

Recently, however, she met an interesting Minotaur, Theseus, whose belief in the world's ability to accept him and his race intrigued her. Something about him drew her into joining him in his journey. If this Minotaur can be an ambassador for his race, to show the world that they can be accepted and be genuine members of society, what's stopping her from doing the same?

The two of them, after some months of travel, came together with a handful of other travelers due to a strange shared dream. Rhythm struggles between her desire to know these people she is forming relationships with, the first true relationships she's had in years, and her desire to protect herself from disappointment. Even Theseus, her closest friend of the group, doesn't know much about her. When can she truly trust these others? Can she really be accepted for who she is?

## Friends, Acquaintances, and Family

Birth Parents (Unknown): Unknown

Beada Lovelace (Adoptive Mother - Deceased): A Human woman touched with some minor magic but never trained or taught. Born in Hazeldrum and was once engaged to a Half-Elf named Alnor, though he tragically died before they could marry. She was never with anyone else romantically. She is buried in the forest outside of Hazeldrum.

Clamor of Mists (Nomadic Druid Group - Active): A band of a dozen or so druids who travel the world, never settling down in one place for long and offering their services to the towns they visit in exchange for materials, resources, weapons, tools, etc.

Members of Clamor of Mists:

* Kho (Elf - Alive): Male currently elected leader of the Clamor of Mists, going by the title of "Magi of Dew". Romantic partner to Cydonia.
* Cydonia (Half Goliath - Alive): Male romantic partner to Kho. Primary healing practitioner and healing teacher within Clamor of Mists.
* Jasper (Elf - Alive): Female
* Ealha (Orc - Alive): Female
* Bogi (Halfling - Unknown): Male

The Charismaniacs (Rag-tag Band of Attempted Adventurers - Active): A group of up to 8 individuals including Rhythm herself who were brought together by a shared dream. When they were asked what they would like to be called, the groups tendancy to act first, think later came forward as they struggled to decide on a name everyone agreed on. In the end, they went with something as ridiculous as they themselves are.

Members of The Charismaniacs:

* Theseus Vasilios Tavros (Minotaur Cleric - Alive)
* Herschel (Panther - Alive)
* Red (Shifter Ranger - Alive)
* Gaius (Human Sword Seer - Alive)
* Barley Bron (Halfling Warlock/Rogue - Alive)
* Lefirith (Vedalken Monk - Unknown)
* Vita Teiidae (Lizardfolk Sorcerer - Alive)