Arryn Malthen

Arryn Malthen is a 525 year old High Elven noblewoman living in Parnos.

## Description

### Appearance

She is 5ft 7in tall and very slender. Her skin is golden and hair a pale silver. She has blue eyes.

### Personality and Alignment

Arryn is neutral good. She loves wide open spaces and forests. She loves peace and tranquility and the thrill of the hunt.

### Religion

She attends The Church of Light in Parnos but would not consider herself a true believer. She prefers to see the divine in the trees and animals.

## Skills and Traits

She is a skilled ranger. She has excellent perception and stealth and is a renowned tracker.

### Languages Spoken

Elvish
Common
Quori

### Armour / Clothing

Arryn prefers to wear simple leather armour or shirts and breeches. She dislikes the formal gowns of court.

### Weapons

Her preferred weapon is a shortbow, with which she is highly skilled. She can also use shortsword and daggers with great effect.

### Spells / Abilities

She has some magical ability, primarily surrounding communicating and understanding the forest and its animals. She has some rudimentary healing and can create a quiver full of fiery arrows.

## Home

Arryn has lived in Parnos and the surrounding area. She has recently left her marital home and her exact whereabouts are currently unknown.

## Treasure / Prize Possessions

Her most treasured possession was a shortbow, which she gave to Idril prior to her departing Parnos.

## Relationships

### Family

She is married to Ruven Malthen and is mother to Venali, Idril and Aerith. Her true love was a Kalashtar ranger called Catishana and she had a short relationship with a wood elf ranger called Selenar.

### Animals and Familiars

Arryn has always loved animals and currently owns a black horse with grey feet called Silver feet.

## History

Arryn grew up in the forests around Parnos and from an early age had an affinity for the forests. She learnt to ride almost before she could walk and was gifted her first bow at the age of 50. Arryn had little time for the towns and cities and instead spent her days riding and hunting.

Her talents were spotted by a local Kalashtar ranger Catishana who saw her tracking antelope one day and shooting an arrow straight into the heart of the largest beast. Catishana told Arryn tales of the dream realms and taught her new meditations to help channel and focus energy during the hunting. She gave Arryn a beautiful elven bow decorated inlaid with a shimmering metal, with Elvish script reading, "Shoot True and Protect the Innocent" as a gift a year after their meeting.

Aged 163 Arryn left her family to travel with Catishana and the two spent many happy years travelling the Old East as far as Daswer and Albion. One evening as Arryn meditated in the wide branches of a tree, Catishana came across a human raiding party. Without stopping she ran into the village to defend the young halflings being tortured there. Arryn's meditative reverie was broken by the sound of Catishana's death scream as she was cleaved with an axe. Through her tears, Arryn drew her bow and shot the 5 humans with 5 blue feathered arrows, straight through the neck. She descended the tree and ran to Catishana's body but she was already dead. Arryn stayed in the halfling village for several weeks, having buried Catishana in the forest there. Eventually she decided to return to her family in Parnos and began the long journey home, alone.

Arryn was 194 at the time of her return to Parnos. During the 3 decades she has spent travelling with Catishana much had changed and Arryn found it difficult to settle into the quieter life at home. She took to spending days and weeks at a time alone, roaming the local forests and places she had visited years before.

On one of these trips she watched a hunting party of young men tracking through the forest after an old wolf. The men were clearly of noble birth, with armour and weapons that were both expensive and ostentatious. The group may have been well equipped and looked the part but Arryn laughed as they thundered around the forest with very little stealth and absolutely no chance of succeeding in their hunt. At the centre of the party was a quiet elf who seemed to both engage with and yet simultaneously deride his companions. He had an air of superiority and was clearly seen as the leader of their band. Arryn tracked the group over several days and became captivated by the quietly arrogant elf. Interested to see how they would handle their prey she rode ahead, unbeknown to the party, and found the wolf pack they were seeking. With all her skill she drove the pack back towards the hunting party, who had all but given up on finding anything!

The party were taken entirely by surprise as the wolf pack breached the clearing where they were making camp for the evening. They quickly circled the men, who drew their swords and shouted brash insults that did little to stave off the inevitable attack. From the branches of a nearby tree Arryn watched as the wolves attacked. With their heavy armour the men were slow. The wolves jumped knocking them down before ripping out their throat.

Rolling her eyes at their utter inadequacy Arryn jumped from the tree and shot an arrow into the chest of the lead wolf, as he jumped towards the young male elf, knocking it backwards and killing it in that single shot. The other wolves retreated and with a flurry of flaming arrows she chased them off into the forest. Pouring water on the flames as she returned to the clearing she saw the male elf lifting the wolf carcass onto a cart. He appeared to not have made any attempt to help his wounded and dying friends.

As she approached he looked towards her and grinned. "Do you want to see my trophy?" he asked. Arryn, perplexed, asked what had happened to his friends and did they need help? "Don't mind that useless bunch," he replied, "They'll be dead now or dead soon enough and deserve to be for all the use they were." He reached out and grabbed Arryn and kissed her. Her impulse was to turn and run but something about this arrogant man stopped her in her tracks. "Come back to the city with me" he ordered. "I will make you anything you could ever want to be."

The desire to be something else, something different to the Arryn that had lost Catishana was overwhelming. Arryn realised that she would never find the joy in the bow and hunt that she had shared with her for those years and that maybe this was the escape she had been searching for.

She rode with Ruven back to Parnos and he took her to his house in the upper class area near to the Royal Court. Over the next year he dressed her in robes of the finest silks and satins, hired a maid to tend to her hair and clothing. He bought her jewels and gold and her slightest wish was immediately catered for. He began taking her to meetings with officials in the city where her role was to be beguiling and hunt them as she once hunted in the forests and, like the wolf, deliver them to Ruven ready for his use.

Arryn fell pregnant in her 195th year and Ruven, although initially furious at what he perceived to be her carelessness, arranged to marry her immediately. The wedding was a formidable local occasion and every high ranking noble was there to see and be seen. Arryn was resplendent in a gown of pale green silk with a golden shimmering cloak. She was bewitchingly beautiful and even Ruven in that moment felt he may be lucky.

Later that year Venali, their son was born and although Arryn enjoyed motherhood she also began to feel that her life was somewhat hollow and empty. Her life with her husband and son and all the finery it entailed still did not give her the deep joy of those years with Catishana.

As Venali grew she started to take him for rides into the forest, taking pleasure in wearing leather armour and riding boots again. She taught him to track and hunt but despaired a little at his bowmanship, although he was certainly a better swordsman than his father. On those trips they often met other elves from Arryn's home village. She was somewhat of a local legend there, both as a ranger, and now as a hugely wealthy "success". One of these elves was a young ranger called Selanar. He accompanied them on many of their trips and Arryn taught him how to track and even some of the meditation skills that Catishana had taught her.

One night at the fireside, while Venali slept in his tent, Arryn told Selanar the stories of Catishana, her death and her ongoing deep sense of emptiness. She wept openly for the first time in a century both for what she had lost and what she had become. That night she slept under the stars with Selanar and for a brief moment felt whole. As the sun rose the next morning Arryn awoke with a start, immediately checking that Venali was still asleep. She quickly dressed and readied herself and then Venali to leave. She rode from the forest and vowed never to return to her village. She never saw Selanar again. Three months later Arryn found herself pregnant again and early the following year Idril was born.

Arryn knew immediately that Idril was not Ruven's child. The red hair and green eyes were so like Selanar's it could be no other's child. Although rumours and gossip about the child abounded, whispers reaching her through her maids and the house servants Ruven never spoke of the obvious difference in appearance and seemed to accept Idril as his own daughter, although with an obvious lesser enthusiasm than he bestowed on his son.

Arryn resigned herself to her new life as the wife of the ambassador and motherhood. She worked hard to be as good a political huntress as she had been a ranger and was respected and well liked in court. Due to her hard work Ruven rose quickly and became a pivotal figure in the political life of The Old East.

She became pregnant for a third time and gave birth to Aerith. The child was immediately captivating. Ruven adored her and it became clear then how disdainful he had actually been to Idril. Arryn poured all her love into Aerith to try and reach Ruven and maybe be loved in return. This was unsuccessful and although Ruven adored his youngest daughter and was proud of his son's progress and skills, he seemed to barely tolerate Arryn and Idril and occasionally his gaze seemed to be of pure hatred.

The day Aerith vanished was the second worst day in Arryn's life after the death of Catishana. Ruven's loathing became more and more evident and drove Idril to the church and Venali to the guard. Although publicly they remained a respected couple, at home they lived separate lives. Arryn became quiet and withdrawn and spent long hours alone in the garden where Aerith had last sat. She blew bubbles, that Aerith had loved, and watched them float away or explode on the ground.

Arryn heard from her maid that Idril had become a cleric in the service of Huwl and occasionally watched at a distance as she tended the sick in the city infirmary. She could see much of Selanar in Idril, in her walk and her mannerisms. She wished she could tell her about Catishana and Selanar and the mistakes she had made in her life, but could not face her daughter's rejection so stayed away.

Idril's quest to find Aerith was a topic of popular discussion in Parnos, as the family were well known and the golden child's vanishing had become a mystery that had never been solved and indeed a tale used to frighten wayward children. Arryn heard that her daughter was leaving and was filled with pride and regret for all the lost years. She went to visit Idril and although unable to share all the stories she wanted to gave her the bow that Catishana had given as a gift all those years before. Idril seemed grateful to see her mother again and hugged her long and hard before setting off with the caravan. Arryn returned to the house and wrote a letter to Idril, explaining about her father and Catishana; telling her about the pain and emptiness of her life and her regrets in trying to buy happiness with silks and power. She sealed the letter and left it at the temple for Idril on her return to Parnos.

The following day Arryn packed her remaining belongings and set off across The Old East to the halfling town where Catishana is buried and remains there as a local hunter and merchant. Venali and Ruven did not see her leave and have no idea as to her location.