Vine Schalle

Vine Rayner Schalle is one of the main characters in the first DER storyline.

### Relatives

Lauralie Schalle (Mother), Bracht Schalle (Father), Angel Schalle (Sister), Aria Schalle (Sister), Iris Schalle (Cousin), Finley Schalle (Titi, Deceased), Peregrine Schalle (Aunty)

### Affiliation

Ulysses Blaire (Close Friend), Dhillius Dafish (close friend), Cacti (Close friend), Feyir

## Physical description

### Height

5ft

She is naturally insensitive to people she doesn't know or have a use for, but is skilled at putting on a charismatic face.

## Early life

Vine was born into an affluent family in Sunit, the Schalle House to parents Bracht Schalle and Lauralie Schalle, and an elder sister to Angel and Aria Schalle. Vine had always been a sheltered child, due to the dangers present with being a member of one of the wealthiest Sunitian families. When she turned 5 onwards, on the first Cheyk of every month, she was taken out of the grounds to the town square to attend the Cheykvi Liturgy. This quickly became one of her favourite activities, and she would look forwards to the morning of adventure every year.

Besides the Cheykvi Liturgy, Vine didn't leave the estate, let alone the kingdom. She was taught by private tutors within her house, and quickly became proficient in most things she tried. Her parents also had her trained in public speaking, life skills and etiquette, setting her up to be a benefit to the family. As her family lived on the largest estate, her parents had a strong hand in family affairs, and were often absent. Vine was told little about how her family gained money as well as their shady dealings with other crowds such as the Blaire Clan. However, she was observant enough to realise there was more going on. At the age of 9 she became more curious, and snuck into her father's study. He being the head of the family held all of their information. Vine was the first of the younger generation to discover the details on her own family, but tactically kept this to herself.

### Vine's Misbehaviour

Vine had always been an obedient child, but as she got older she became mischievous. In her boredom, she would often take important files or valuable items from her parents to witness the mayhem she caused. This got worse as she got older, getting to the point where she would stage break-ins and blackmail her own family to see their reactions. Due to her remaining shorter as she aged, Vine was able to appear innocent easily. She only got caught once for a smaller misdemeanour, when she hired a small concert band to interrupt a dinner party with her aunt Peregrine and titi Finley. Now 13, Vine managed to get off with just a slap on the wrist. When - and - returned back to their estate, they told their daughter Iris about Vine's stunt. This prompted Iris to reach out to Vine in secret, and the two became close pen pals. The cousins hadn't met in real life since they were toddlers, but being a similar age, they clicked. Vine eventually mentioned the family secret to Iris, and together they investigated more.

### Iris visiting Vine

After remaining close friends for a few years, the two decided they wanted to meet up in person. The two realised that they couldn't let their parents know that they had been communicating. Instead, Vine made passing comments to her parents about the topic, mentioning the value of family and subtly planting the idea of inviting her family over for the next Grand Liturgy. Vine's efforts paid off, and her parents invited the extended family over for that week. The girls were ecstatic that they would finally meet up, and couldn't wait to find out more about the family. However, a few days before Iris was meant to depart, she was pronounced murdered by someone known only as Iris' lover, a mysterious figure that she had not told Vine about.

### The death of Iris Schalle

After Iris' death, Bracht's older sibling Finley and their wife Peregrine were overrun with grief. This resulted in Finley snapping and taking their own life. Bracht was distraught at the death of his sibling, and put new rules into place. From then on, Vine, around 15 years as well as 10-year-old Angel and 6-year-old Aria were no longer allowed out on any occasion. Angel and Aria eventually forgot about the wonders of the outside world, but Vine still obsessed, watching the streets through a window in her personal study. Her father's attempt on protecting her children succeeded, and society eventually forgot that Bracht and Lauralie even had children. With newfound free time, Vine studied writing systems of Liliae and Rhestonia, and geography, furthering her obsession with the world.

At some point, she became bored and restless with her situation. She would spend more and more time by the window. For the incoming months, she observed the people outside, feeling more and more lonely. At the same time, she raised her youngest sister Aria, as her parents became busier. This continued for around 11 months. Bored with this lifestyle, began to formulate a plan to break out of her home. She was growing to disdain her parents and the control they had over her life. Her face was untouched by the sun, making her look pale and unhealthy, and her parents were staffing her with less and less tutors and maids, as they were trying to erase her name in an attempt to protect her. She left her home at 16 on 11-15-705 Aurelia, bringing her most basic clothes, a necklace, a ring and a pair of earrings and only leaving a short note. She left her hometown of Nobel and headed the adjacent city, Pelia, the capital of Sunit.

On the way, she promptly sold her earrings but kept the rest of her belongings on her as to not have too much money. Even so, her upperclass clothes however basic were telling of her status, and her youthful appearance made her look like an easy target. She was near immediately robbed of her money by highwaymen with not much capacity to defend herself. Dejected, she rushed to Pelia to sell her necklace. The same group of thieves followed her, and attempted to steal the necklace and cut off her hand to steal her rings. She barely managed to fend off the thieves and defend herself. Learning from her mistakes, she bought some more common clothing in the capital. She found that by presenting and introducing herself as a younger homeless girl, she could find a lot of pity and occasionally get given free food by taverns. A lot of people fell for her act, because of her short height and pale, sick looking skin. After hearing the news of a missing noblewoman, Vine left Pelia and moved further east to the town Inera, where she was taken in by a man named Ivan. At night, she slept in a tavern in exchange for clearing tables in the day. She lived like this for a few months, picking up how the city of Inera worked along the way.

## First DER

One night during her stay at Ivan's tavern and inn, Vine ate in a corner table. The night was particularly busy, and so the table she was seated at was shared among a group of people, who she observed to be some kind of red haired elf, a fish person, and a human wearing a big bow. Ivan approached this table, seemingly after seeing the red haired person. He proposed that they take a quest to kill Phutin, a local infamous figure, living in Tetalus, south of Ivera. This creature is known for occupying a castle on the island he fittingly named Phutin's island, and refusing to pay taxes for the occupation of said island to the government. He had a record of killing any tax collectors, nature conservationists, reporters, and mercenaries that plagued the island. The government hence has a large bounty on his head. Ivan instructed the red haired stranger to form a band of travellers in order to do this, as this was no easy task. The stranger looked around sarcastically, and then recruited their table to accompany them. The table was all quick to agree, despite Ivan's protests, and they introduced themselves. The red haired "elf" was an Anerenni named Asher, the girl with a bow was a mutant human (?) named Cacti, and the fish was a young prodigy inventor named Dhillius. Vine introduced herself, but made sure not to mention her Schalle descent.

Vine headed from Inera to Tetalus through the Inera Forest, getting to know her new companions, and enjoying her newfound freedom. Upon reaching Tetalus, the group bounce from store to store looking for goods. Vine enters a local magic store, the Wizard Hut, where she sees a staff created through Myskir magic, with a Biliski curated quartz on the top. As a Sunit native, she had never seen such an item before, and was captivated. She spends a good chunk of her remaining money on the staff, although she had no idea how to use it.