Eliana McClain

### **Childhood (Birth-13)**

Eliana was born and raised in Denerim in a commoner family, her father being a guard and her mother having no official job. As a child, she always played pretend games with others. She especially loved playing as a Grey Warden leading an army against darkspawn. Of course, the darkspawn were always the dogs some of the kids owned, and kids themselves were Wardens.

Eliana's interest in becoming a Warden only grew as she aged, and the only game she'd love to play was the Warden one. Slowly, she began to lose friends because of this. However, this didn't affect her. At the age of 9, she began to visit the library often to read stories about the Grey Wardens and come home to enthuse about them to her parents. Eventually, when Eliana was 10, her father started to teach Eliana how to properly fight-with a wooden sword, no less.

When news of the Fifth Blight spread to Denerim, Eliana and her parents made preparations to move. However, they were too late to move to somewhere away from the horde. Her father was called to fight the incoming horde at the gates, and Eliana and her mother were forced to take refuge within Denerim.

Once the battle was over and everyone was rebuilding and reuniting with their families, Eliana and her mother searched for some sign of her father. In the end, all they could recover was a dead body. Eliana grew vengeful towards the darkspawn, even though the Warden's army had already won. As a result, Eliana pushed herself to become better at fighting with swords so she could one day join the guard.

### **Youth (13-18)**

At the age of 13, about two years after the Blight, Eliana moved to Highever with her mother. There they both made a solid living. Her mother became a small-time merchant, and Eliana continued to train by herself. She did well for a young girl, but she definitely needed some help.

Luckily, a generous and older guard of Highever, who was a Rogue, decided he wanted to help the young girl achieve her goal of becoming a guard. He, however, never knew about her wish to be a Grey Warden. He trained her in the way of the Rogue until she turned 16 when she was able to enlist in training with other guard recruits. There she learned how to wield swords properly and there she learned how to be a Duelist. And when she was 18, she finally earned a place in the guard order of Highever.

### **Adult (18-Present)**

After joining the Highever guard, she stayed in it for almost 8 years before she heard a ton of Vigil's Keep and the Wardens stationed there. At this point, she had her own home in Highever near her mother's, who was now growing older and fragile. She also had a significant other who, surprisingly, supported Eliana and her decision to join the Wardens. He didn't, however, know the cost, and neither did Eliana.

She grew confident and excited to finally have an opportunity to join the Grey Wardens. With a hint of luck, Eliana's had the opportunity once a pair of Grey Wardens came to Highever to recruit. Eliana was the first to step forward, and they gratefully accepted her after a few days of observing her daily duties and how she fought.

Eliana finally left the guard and followed the Grey Wardens to Vigil's Keep. There she now resides as a Warden-Recruit, waiting for her time to undertake the Joining Ritual.