Anserra Silverbite

## Sergeant Anserra Silverbite

"War, what is it good for?"

Anserra Silverbite (Common IPA ænsɜra sɪlvəbaɪt, 31 Abadius 1920, the Age of Dynasties - ) is a Svifnerblin military sniper that participated in the Duergar-Svirfneblin Eternal War. Her service, which span the mandatory 50 years, saw the intensification of Duergar and Drow assaults on the holdings of the Rubyholds as well as the beginning of a new era of warfare that brought devastating new technologies, many of them imports from the surface and adapted to the rigors of the Darklands.

Outnumbered and outgunned, Sergeant Anserra Silverbite was cut off from headquarters and supply lines for over 10 years, leading what was left of her section not only against the militaries of the Duergar and Drow, but also against the unspoken horrors of the dark, holding onto Fort Peridot until reinforcement managed to break through and relieve the lost unit. Awarded the Ruby Dice for her actions and her mandatory service period over, she is sent to the surface as an ambassador of sorts for her kin to seek alliances.

## History

### Early Life and Youth

Anserra Silverbite was born in the hamlet of Ankheg Shell near the Rubyholds. The youngest of three sibilings, Anserra is the daughter of Molor Silverbite, a mushroom farmer, and his loving wife Sanka Silverbite (née Topazsheen). She attended the school of her local parish, and cultivated the home farm along with her elder siblings. She was a hunter, farmer and dabbling alchemist prior to military service.

After a long lull period, Duergar incursions into Svirfneblin territory became more and more common, supported and equipped by various Drow matriarchies, and a conscription campaign was launched by the government of the Rubyholds. Though Anserra was still a minor, she faked her paperwork to join the war efforts and passed through boot camp, during which she was able to perform the Mad Minute and hit the distant target 10 times in one minute.

### Military Service

Anserra served as a sniper in the Svirfneblin Armed Forces during the Duergar-Svirfneblin Eternal War under Lieutenant Poriander Toadlicker in the 6th Company of Infantry Regiment 34 during an unusually cold period of the Darklands, serving in temperatures reaching as low as -40 centigrade. Duergar leadership was still scattered in this early period of the conflict, and the Svirfneblin forces would hold them back by holding key positions and performing guerilla warfare tactics.

Anserra swiftly began racking up a reputation as an invisible killer, with a swiftly rising confirmed body count that gave the Svirfneblin war effort a much needed propaganda boost. For equipment, Anserra was armed with the service Pattern 2 'SvirfKaboom' musket and the Rapid Fire 'Leadspewer' Repeater, a barely functional prototype of a support and suppressing firearm. Her reputation was so infamous that Duergar excavation units were attempting to collapse caves she was reported to be in specifically.

### Fort Peridot

In the last years before the Age of Might, the by then Sergeant Anserra Silverbite was holding Fort Peridot with a section under her command when Duergar forces performed a ritual that blocked off all exits with violent quakes and warded the centrally positioned fort from teleportation effects, a sealing ward of sorts. Concerns were about oxygen supplies, especially to ward off potential Duergar gas attacks, and sappers were quickly put to work, though Duergar excavation units made such efforts nearly futile.

The saving grace were the beasts of the Darklands that burrowed various tunnels to feast on the bodies of the victims of both sides of the conflict, which in turn also served as a source of food for the trapped Svirfneblin unit. With only a few war mages and limited equipment, the section held their ground with no means of escape, surviving off beast meat, mold, seized equipment and ammunition, and their only salvation, an endless supply of magical drinking water in the fort.

A cannon installed on the roof of the fort is said to have fired over 10,000 times successfully at the invaders, even with improvised ammunition. Its high angle helped shrug off the armor plating of the Duergar war beasts and was instrumental in holding the position. The Duergar excavation units attempted to collapse the cavern of the fort, but its sturdy structure and the tireless work of the Svirfneblin engineers prevented this from happening, effectively halting the Duergar assaults and preventing the Svirfneblin flanks from getting overwhelmed.

### Aftermath

Sergeant Anserra Silverbite and the ten troops left alive by the time the Svirfneblin army broke through the ward to relieve them were all awarded the Ruby Dice for their bravery and gallantry, the highest military award of the Svirfneblin Armed Forces. Injured and malnourished, it took Anserra Silverbite nearly a year assisted by magical healing to fully recover, but she was portrayed as a war hero. The frontline between Duergar and Svirfneblin had stabilized by then, turning into prolonged and dangerous assaults between trench systems with no man's land between them, leaving any to traverse them vulnerable to artillery, magic and ranged weapons.

Anserra is then tasked by the Government of Rubyhold to reach the surface and seek alliances against the Duergar, a first for the isolated people that are infamous for, while not being outright hostile and xenophobic, were known to prefer being left to their own device. This indicates a shift not only in Svirfneblin politics, but a state of how dire the situation is, as well as another era of modern feudal politics.

## Appearance

Anserra is an average female Svirfneblin, with stringy grey hair and grey eyes and a wiry build. She is missing her pinky finger on her left hand, and bears multiple scars across her body, from shrapnel burns to lacerations and the likes, the mark of a person that has had too many brushes with death. Her clothes often are of a earthy tone, and she tries to shield her eyes from the sun as best as she can with goggles or a hood. Otherwise, there is no real mark of distinction to her, simply someone that was put in a hard situation. Her common is a bit broken, as it is not a language that is commonly spoken in the Darklands.

## Personality

Anserra is pragmatic at heart, always trying to have backup plans for her backup plans. Everything is a potential ressource to her, even her own comrades. She is not out for herself, but she knows that battles have a cost if they are to be won. Her service has also made her extremely nervous and jumpy, to the point where she has a bit of a 'shoot first, ask questions later' mentality, especially since very few creatures in the Darklands are eager to answer the questions to begin with. She has a strong sense of duty, and will not abandon her post until the situation is too dire. She does not believe in needless sacrifices at all, or last stands, despite her own history. After all, sixty men soon became ten men after a period of ten years.

## Foes

* The Duergar

* Creatures of the Darklands

## Goals

Anserra's goal is to retire and live a simply life. However, she understands that as long as she can fight, she needs to keep going to save her kin from annihilation. She desires to save her home at all cost, else she'll have nothing to return to.