Marna History

Goodemiss Marna Sutter was the first daughter of a large farming family in Southern Akkoria. As a child she demonstrated the ability to ‘talk’ to plants and was properly given as a Chanter’s apprentice when she was 8 to Goodie Brookhart.

Her elder brothers entered their military service to gain Citizenship with the two eldest deciding to remain. Harrold is a Marine, and Nathal serves in the Naval Astronomical Division. Kassat did his 4 years in the Navy and came home to inherit the family farmland.

Since she is a Chanter, Marna has not done her military service and ‘has no name’. The Akkor of her region hasn’t seen fit to name her a citizen. Her sister Satari married a citizen farmer and hasn’t bothered to serve. Her younger brother Daxan, being seasick and hating to fight, decided not to serve and remains ‘nameless’ as well. As such, none of the three can own property or have a legal say in matters (even though Chanters’ voices tend to give a lot of weight to an issue).

Because of this, Daxan has decided to take up Rynith’s offer of homesteads in Kyrrathis. He and several other farmers from Marna’s steadding have decided they want land of their own without having to become Citizens to earn the right to buy it. Knowing how difficult homesteading can be, and knowing they’ll need a Chanter to help them get situated, Marna has passed her Steadding on to her apprentice Rico and has accompanied Daxan and the others to Kyrrathis. Daxan (in his mid 20s) is married to Kelli (early 20s) and has 3 young children – Marna birthed them all.

They’ve been there since February and have carved out decent lives. While she doesn’t farm her own land (outside of a veggie garden), Marna assists the others with their own fields and livestock and is supported by them. While the farmers are bringing in the meager corn harvest, Marna has decided to help earn her new steadding some money by volunteering to serve the mysterious T. She doesn’t trust Rynith (of course) and they need the coin to purchase winter wheat from Lindora Urth to sow before the ground gets too frozen.

Of course, as luck has it, T was Ty Shadowsong, a Rynith operative. They were asking adventurers (including a group of Karandian Talons) to investigate Urth under suspicion of treaty violations. Failure to report back in within two days time results in a contract violation and an arrest warrant issued in their names. Marna wasn't told this until AFTER the contract was signed in her proper name. She, a pair of beastmen, a wanderer, and the Talons found Urthen undead trying to get into a mysterious region protected by unnatural fear. The region was protecting a runed gateway which led to the legendary Thieves Isles. The Urthen invoked some kind of ritual which sent Marna and the others through the gates although they were no-where near it.

When they came to, they banded together with an unknown group wearing red tabards with black daggers upon them to keep alive through the night. While they recovered from vicious undead attacks, Marna received a visitation from Nae'del - the 'Treasured One' of Dakkor. He warned her that Urth's magiks were spreading and would soon poison all the natural world, rendering Elementalists like her unable to use their power due to the corruption. Death Magik could be tolerated by nature to a certain degree. But Urth had exceeded that point. Their goal was nothing other than total conquest. Nae'del had become an avatar of Moere, the Earth Goddess. If Urth succeeded in their plan of using the Thieves' Isle to reach Doro Y'edhel to raise his corpse as part of their army, they would gain a degree of control over Moere herself (as Marna understood it). He suggested she go with Dakkorian elf Captain Tuono of House Koi to Doro Y'edhel to warn the elves of what was happening and how their continued isolation was going to result in the loss of elemental magiks. He also suggested she try to band other elementlists and nations together to defeat Urth for the sake of Xaria.

Although unsure of her abilities to do so, Marna agreed. What kind of Chanter would she be if she didn't look out for Xaria; the ultimate Steadding.

Once the portal was sealed on the Thieves' Isle to prevent Urth from sending in more troops, she communed with the island to find out how many undead needed to be destroyed. The communication lead her to find a strange undead known as Marduk. He was far older than any Undead and was surprised to learn more of them were on the island with him. He had a great power over them and was angered by the thought that Rynith or Urth would try to use him to their ends. Marna was able to help convince him to come out of seclusion to destroy the Urthen undead so they could all be returned home.

She and Tuono were sent back to the western borders of Kyrathis, where she attempted to send word to her family of Urth's spreadding corruption and the arrest warrant under her name. Tuono had his memory somehow blanked of the whole ordeal. He was rather surprised to hear of her mission from Nae'del. Together the two set off towards the elven seat to spread word of the latest actions of Urth.

Having no luck with the elven borders on the Quiveran side, Tuono went back to Dakkor to report in and Marna traveled round the long way through Xaria and made her way along towards Chalter Medrium. She came to a rest at a waystation near the borders of the Vevse and Doro Y'Edhel, encountering several other travellers - a pair of young elven lads escaped from Dakkor amongst them as well as an elven scout reporting back to the Council.

Their rest was broken by strange visitors long dead and an attack by a monster said to be extinct; a creature composed of various elements with long tentacles. Marna's ties to the earth gave her a bit of power over the beast but it took the combined might of several warriors (dwarves and seasoned soldiers) to hold it off. It appeared the creature had been linked to a thinning between the plane of Xaria and the various realms of the dead.

Surmising the continued weakening of Xaria's grip due to the lack of the elven queen and increasing amount of Death Magik created the thinny, the elves making their rest at the station closed the weak point with a sacrifice of their blood. Marna helped heal them and then made her way north, to deal with Karandians and continue her preaching against the evils of Necromancy. The elven ranger she had spoken to promised to carry word of what she had seen and experienced, so she had at least accomplished part of her mission.