Kayla Stormrunner

### Siblings:

Seldanna Stormrunner † Sorisana Stormrunner † Melandrach Stormrunner † Taranath Stormrunner †

## Physical Description

### Height:

5'7

Kayla Stormrunner is elven royalty, and also the last of the Stormrunner family at least on her mother's side, is the current Queen of the Elves after the latest elven civil war.

## **Miscellaneous Information:**

Kayla has a lot of martial prowess when it comes to fighting, she's particularly skilled with the weapons she favors to use. The weapons she always carries on her person is her eldest sisters bow Sun Strider, a dagger typical for most elves, as well a traditional elven sword from her family's vault. She tends to typically wear clothing dyed in her family's colors when she's not out on a campaign, though she favors wearing elven leather armor dyed similarly; unless it's a stealth mission when she served in the military.

## **Personality:**

Kayla is a kind, friendly, short-tempered, quiet, passionate, and a little xenophobic elf  She enjoys joking around when the situation comes to it, she tends to keep to herself on certain days of the year. She is known to be a hardass at some points because of past events in her life. As well as having a hard time trusting people with magic because she thinks it’s a crutch that gifted people use to win fights. Kayla is a very talented individual when it comes to tactics and fighting. During one of her missions in the military, she had to infiltrate an enemy stronghold and steal important plans, documents, and other important things necessary to complete the mission. At the start mission she believed it was a suicide mission, but  she decided study every part of the area with great interest before starting her mission. She quickly found weaknesses in the stronghold and managed to slip in undetected in the darkest hours of the night.

Kayla can be very passionate when it comes down to things she loves or the people she cares for. When she cares for someone, she cares for them deeply and has experienced enough loss in her life to never want to feel it again. Kayla's passionate nature also often extends to her interests, which include books, archery, and music.

Kayla tends to spend her time alone improving her skills as a reminder of what her family was known for. She trains almost every day because of what she was taught during her brief time in the military, as well as time learning from her family.

Kayla’s xenophobia comes from her deep hatred of the events from the 5th Human-Elven war which resulted in the first Elven defeat in centuries, and the policies that came from said war. Although it can come from her past which also can control how she interacts with non-elves because of these factors. Kayla isn’t one to be charitable towards those who aren’t elves also due to her being xenophobic.

## **Hobbies/Skills:**

* Archery, Kayla has been known to be able to shoot three to four arrows at once.
* Great Marksman, Kayla can hit a target accurately from over 250 meters with her bow.
* Hunting/Tracking
* Fletcher. Kayla tends to create her arrows they’re often better than standard elven ones.
* Enjoys Reading
* Loves Music

## **Relationships:**

Sol Silkriid - Sol is one of the few humans I can trust in certain matters. Unlike most humans that have been in the Elven lands, he hasn’t been a total jackass towards Elfs. At least he's tolerable to be around unlike most humans I’ve personally dealt with. I would trust him with my life, though it would be strictly business between us.

Valik Magmaforge - He’s interesting for a dwarf has an honest living for himself which makes him stand out. He’s helping me with investigating the murders of my family, though the timing can’t be a mere coincidence that I start investigating their deaths thirteen years later. So I’m going to try to keep him out of anything because of the sensitivity of this topic, I think if he did get involved I’d end up killing him.

Nax Amberscale - I guess he’s Valik’s boss, and he's a kobold one of the few races that help the elves when it comes to trade and whatnot. He’s a clever bugger. I'll give him that, though he needs lessons in combat from what I’ve seen; however, it's normal for Kobolds to not have much experience when it comes to fighting.

Larry - I want to rip him piece by piece, don’t know how this scumbag has lived for over three thousand years. He and his followers are on my shit list. They will not get an ounce of support from me or my kind disappoints me that he has an elf that follows him.

## **Backstory:**

*“She will be the one to surpass everything our family has completed” -Kayla’s eldest sibling’s thoughts on Kayla*

Kayla Stormrunner was born in the Elven village of Aenwyn the home of the Stormrunner family after they weren’t on the elven throne for almost two centuries, she was the youngest of 5 children. Her family was former royalty and respected elven family that is known for their skill in marksmanship, and tactical thinking. At the age of three, she was learning how to use a bow, she was taught by her oldest sister because her parents weren’t around much because they were busy with military conflicts, and politics in the elven capital. She had a strong bond with her oldest sister during her early years as a child. By the age of five disasters struck their family manor she lived in it was being raided by unknown assailants, she was with her oldest sister learning how to make an arrow from scratch when they heard people screaming outside. Her oldest sister then realized what was happening and put Kayla in the cupboard as a hiding place while she tried to fight off the raiders. Kayla prayed to the gods and begged them to stop this madness that is happening. The fighting was brutal; Kayla's other sisters and brother died fighting in minutes; as the invaders were approaching the Stormrunner household. She didn’t make a noise but she could see through a small crack in the cupboard and saw her sister getting raped by multiple individuals. She was horrified by the actions, in the end, they murdered her oldest sister and stole anything valuable. She then left the cupboard and immediately went to her sister’s body and cried for hours on end. Kayla knew the raiders missed important valuables in their home because only those who had a special amulet could gain access to their family vault filled with important artifacts, weaponry, money, and scrolls. From this day on Kayla believed the gods were false and had lost faith in them for not being able to save her family. Elven authorities arrived hours late and they found Kayla just around her fallen sibling that died defending the house crying.

*“Bad men came and they hurt people, but they hurt me the most” -Kayla to the Elven authorities.*

*“I hated the orphanages I was forced to stay at, I had an extended family, but they all believed I was dead so I had to stick with pretending to be dead.” -Kayla’s thoughts when looking back at her younger self.*

She was brought to the elven capital orphaned at the age of five, she spent most of her time in the orphanages mastering skills she was taught by her sister she went under the alias Kaalia Moonflare to hide her identity; because she heard about her parent’s assassinations a few days later in the city. Kayla didn’t enjoy her time in the capital because of all the non-elven people visiting it, she worried that any one of these people could’ve been the raiders that pillage her village so she took a gamble and decided to leave the eleven territories for the northernmost territory. The way to the north was brutal for her since she was only five she couldn’t bear the cold but she pushed on she got lost in a forest and collapsed from exhaustion only to wake up in a cave where she was surrounded by wolves, she thought she was done for but it seems the wolves only brought her into the cave for shelter she even managed to become friends with them participated in a hunt with them. She took up banditry at a young age to support herself. She became the very thing that haunted her in her dreams, by the age of eight she was the most wanted thief in the north; she was eventually caught and sent back to her homeland for her trial where she awaited judgment from her people. During the trial, the judge recognized who was being persecuted as a thief, just by mentioning her real name everyone shut up and was in disbelief as the judge said her name. Kayla chose not to react to it all and stayed silent throughout the entire trial out of guilt and shame. Because of her family name alone she was pardoned because it was a well-known case that her family was butchered and everyone believed she was dead, but she didn’t get off easy she was forced into the military for her crimes as a thief.

*“I might one day and come back to the north to find those wolves again and bring them back to my home, it seems I formed a great bond with them.” -Kayla’s thoughts she wrote down in her journal.*

*“I wish they would’ve just given me the death sentence, so I can be with my family again, but then again I have to survive to get my revenge on those who butchered my family.” “I am surprised my uncle finally got the position as a judge, or just the fact he even recognized me at that age.” -Kayla’s take/thoughts on the verdict.*

Her military career was rough and they put her through hell, the whole goal for her training was to make her face her inner demons and remember who she is. She was the only one who had a rough time during her training because of her past and her family name. By the age of thirteen, she was sent into combat being in charge of a squad of rangers. Their mission was to sneak into an enemy city and open the gates for the elven forces. She realized that some of the facts of the mission were a trap so she and her squad had to improvise the plan, because of Kayla’s nature of not trusting those in the elven military. They waited in the darkness for the perfect opportunity to scale the walls, when the time came they scaled the walls, once inside she and her squadron made quick work of the garrison around the gatehouse once the gate was open, they made sure to set fire to one of the buildings in the fortified town to keep the enemy from knowing what happened. Kayla and her squadron of elvish rangers from that point onward really didn’t see much action but stayed active in patrolling the borders of elvish territory making sure no vile beasts can enter their sacred lands. A few years later there was a large number of protests in elven cities and Kayla and her rangers were sent to stop the protests, the protesters were protesting for the removal of all non-elves from the land. Kayla down inside sympathized with the protesters because of her past, but she also realizes that it will only cause harm to the Elven lands.

*“There are so many incompetent fools in the elven military that they have to waste elite forces to take back a town from militant rebels.” -Kayla on the mission to take back a town.*

*“I believe those who are not elves should leave our lands, it will help us because we should return to our old elven ways which in turn will make the elven economy flowing again; although as the corrupt officials have been neglecting economic reforms since my ancestors were on the throne, and we must deny those who have had access to our sacred knowledge. Getting rid of the non-elves might cause another great war we’re not ready for. I know the feeling of hating others for causing our people harm, and discord my whole family was butchered by unknown assailants but it doesn’t help the fact that we should kick them right now.” -Kayla addressing the protesters.*

Kayla spent most of her teen years hunting and taking a liking to read, music, these were some of her interests even when she was younger though she was then called to arms. Kayla was then promoted to ranger captain in the elven military’s most notorious unit Daerieth’s Vengeance, a position she believed she didn’t deserve because she thought she was only given the position out of pity. Kayla started to see faults in the elven government and how terrible it is, she wanted nothing to do with dealing with rebellious elves anymore because she was tired of the government ordering rangers to deal with the problems that the elven government created so by the age of seventeen she quit the military with full honors. She then went to her family memorial to try to finally mourn for her loved ones for the first time in a decade. Kayla left flowers and all of the medals she received in the military on the memorial because she believed her family would love to have them more than she did. She of course sang a song that her family created every time on the day of the event. She finally got around to see what was left of the village she grew up in only bringing back bad memories that the military tried to get her to forget. When she arrived it was completely abandoned, not a sound for a couple of miles, she would eventually try to rebuild her home, but for now, she had to focus on other things such as protecting the world and getting back at the invaders that destroyed her childhood.

*“I hereby resign from the elven rangers due to the government's lack of support for our people; we’re all suffering even those in the military are, I proudly served the military fighting for what I thought was right but I realized it wasn’t right. The Elven government refuses to aid those who are struggling so I shall do it myself, I never wanted to inherit wealth from my family but I will use that wealth to support my people.” -Kayla upon resigning from the military.*

*“To understand the idea of a multi-front war you must understand it’s not physically fighting on two fronts but both physically and politically.” -Kayla to her Rangers.*

*“The Devil of Aenwyn has resigned from her position as captain of the Daerieth’s Vengeance, the most notorious ranger unit in the Elven Military.*” *-Messengers reported throughout the elven lands.*

Kayla would be a key player in the events that followed an Elven civil war that broke out between the common folk and the elven government. Kayla chose not to support either side because she both saw the faults on both sides. After all, neither side in the conflict had the elven spirit in mind. Kayla also had both family and friends on both sides of the war. Her whole ideology in the conflict was to restore the Elven monarchy to how it was, she would not get involved in any of the conflicts her only involvement was to rescue civilians and save them from the bloody civil war that no one knew how long it would last. Both sides constantly pleaded for her to take action but she’d have none of it; she told them that they’re only fighting each other for power. Kayla made her position clear that she will not fight unless she has to fight for the people that are under her protection. At this point and time, she would be considered the “Kingmaker” for the elven people, but with her ideology, she wouldn’t make either side the winner of the war. The only possible way she would even consider choosing a side is if they restored the old ways of the Elven kingdom.

*“Trust in your heart and those who you care about Kayla, and never to forget where you came from.” -Seldanna Kayla’s eldest sister’s last words to Kayla.*

Kayla started to investigate the murders of her family with the help of the dwarf Valik Magmaforge, though he may have given her advice and helped her out with some parts of the investigation she only needs his help because she has no one else to help with this task. Though the timing of the investigation would be a mere coincidence because it happened to be the 13th anniversary of the murders. Kayla sent Valik away so she could mourn, as well as get more information on the murders, however, the information she received is not what she wanted to hear at all. The reports she got were both sides were massacring civilians who have no part in the war. Kayla sent a damning letter to both sides. Kayla would no longer sit idly by and watch the war play out, she would have no other choice but to remake the Elven Kingdom. After that letter she gathered what troops she could around one thousand strong under her command and went off to liberate the Elven people from tyrannical factions fighting for power, once word got out that Kayla took arms against both sides the Elven people rallied to her back and call, although Kayla appreciates the people who didn’t choose a side in the civil war and wanted to fight for her she declined the offer stating that *“I don’t need more troops I need the people to continue what they do and what they’re known for doing”*. Kayla rapidly gained support and territory very quickly neither side would be willing to attempt to fight Kayla in open battle nor would they try to attempt to stop her; because of these reasons, she was always twelve steps ahead of both sides. By the end of the month, Kayla reached the Elven capital in which she walked into the Erendriel Palace in which she had the religious officials crown her Queen of the Elves. Once both sides heard of this ceremony they both tried to sue for peace, but Kayla would have none of it so she countered back by saying “*I will not give you peace until you submit to my rule and rejoin the Elven Kingdom, or else I’ll crush you like your failed attempts to send assassins after me when I destroyed smaller groups of your armies”.* Following this decree she spent vast amounts of money she made on rebuilding, and helping out those who are in desperate need of aid; some elven historians even stated that Kayla was the reincarnation of her many great grandfathers Amon Stormrunner. Kayla also has been tirelessly hunting down slavers in the Elven lands going as far as closing down the borders entirely to catch and find them.