Sophia

## Backstory

Sophia grew up in Canopy Bridge, a bustling trade town on either side of the Dragon's Tail river - made to flourish from the tolls of the bridge for which it was named. With busy parents happily working to keep the town economy thriving, Sophia was sent to the local school for several hours on weekdays. Outside of that time, she went largely unsupervised for the entirety of her youth.

During her free time, Sophia took to many different things, initially with none suiting her. She would stop by blacksmith shops and bother the owners with questions until they asked her to leave, or pester the town tanner about why her shop smelled so strongly. In a small town like Canopy Bridge, everyone knows everyone. It didn’t take long for Sophia to establish a reputation of her own kind.

Sophia didn’t care much for reading the room, and never noticed that others had begun to view her in a negative light. She went about her day-to-day without a care in the world, and generally little changed at first. Over time, she began to notice that her questions garnered fewer and less enthusiastic responses. Sophia started taking walks in the Canopy forest, the massive thicket that the bridge in Canopy Bridge led to. She often had a good laugh to herself about how those that named the town back in its early days must not have been very creative.

Her walks in Canopy lengthened, and on days where she didn’t have school she would find herself in the forest from dawn to dusk, simply learning more about the forest and enjoying nature. She loved watching little woodland critters, and would follow them to see what their lives were really like when no one was watching. She became quite good at moving unseen and unheard, albeit not for the usual reasons. Her love for the nature of Canopy soon had its hardest day, however.

After spending most of one day tailing an adorable fox, Sophia was ready to go home. As she was preparing to do so without startling the fox from its nap, a vicious wolf tore through the thicket, snapping up the fox in its jaws and quickly killing it. It loped off with its meal secured, and Sophia remained in shock for quite some time. She had spent all day learning so much about this fox and observing the beauty in nature that so few pause to appreciate. To see that all that beauty did nothing to save it was heartbreaking.

Sophia had finally found purpose. She asked her father if he would buy her a bow and a good number of arrows. Surprised, he obliged. She rarely asked for much outside of a bed, roof, and food, so this was a delightful change of pace. Her parents began to hope that Sophia throwing herself into a craft such as archery would bring her back down to the ground a little bit. They couldn’t have been more wrong.

Sophia continued disappearing into Canopy, and there she would train her archery skills. As she followed her smaller woodland friends, she was ready to protect them. Over the course of her teenage years, Sophia came to know Canopy likely better than anyone else alive. The critters of Canopy warmed to her presence, with many no longer running at the sight of her. One day, a tiny ferret took this one step further.

After she had warded off a coyote who had cornered him, the little ferret eyed her for some time. This was not the first time he had come across her. He decided that he liked this large creature who helped him, and decided to greet her in a more personal manner. She picked him up, and he found it rather to his liking. Perched on her shoulder, he decided that he was safest with her, and that was that. Sophia, with her care of the critters now validated in such a concrete way, and the ferret, going against his natural instincts to seek comfort, formed an inseparable bond.

Back home, it was just another quirk. Sophia the wayward forest girl became Sophia the ferret girl. No one seemed to question where she had come across the little guy, and few of those who did cared to ask. Sophia didn’t care. She had her best friend now. The day after they returned home, the ferret climbed into a butter churn, eating more than his fill and generally ruining the entire batch of fresh butter. Sophia decided to name him Butter in honor of the occasion. Her parents objected, thinking the name was rather idiotic, but they knew they wouldn’t sway her. Sophia and Butter were now best of friends.

Several months later, on a gorgeous day in Canopy, she came across a ragged young woman, one who looked like she had been in the forest far longer than she might have liked. She was rather nasty to Sophia, but Sophia knew it was simply because she was tired and scared. She brought her back to her home, where her parents were of course willing to take her in until she felt better. Sophia learned that the young woman’s name was Sloane Val’Myren, and that she was on the run from her father. Sophia, who had spent years trying to protect things that needed it, suddenly felt very protective of Sloane. She stayed there for about a month, hiding and recovering from her long wandering in the woods.

They grew close, though Sloane and Sophia couldn’t have been more different. Knowing that Sloane needed to leave the area soon, Sophia offered to join her, sure that she knew more of forestry and staying concealed than Sloane did. It would be the adventure of her lifetime. Sloane happily agreed, appreciating that someone might have her back for once. They decided that they would travel to Aramor, and see what happened from there. After loving goodbyes with her parents, who were happy to see Sophia inspired, they set off.

## In Gameplay

### Aptitudes

Personal Skill - Ferret's Fury: % chance for Butter the ferret to add damage to Sophia's attacks

### Bonds

* Alden
* Bianca
* Sloane
* Benji
* Caius
* Helena
* Monroe
* Faust
* Fenton
* Rose