Holly Sparrow

WIP

## Overview

A usually bright woman nearing twenty years in Novania, Holly has lived quietly with no great achievements or positions to her name but having simply made it this long in the unusually hostile environment of this country. She became estranged from her family in Granthel after her first marriage, though as the years drew on has since reconnected with them in her husband's absence. She spends her days as the owner of the bakery in Hearth and as a loving mother, currently residing in Driftwood.

### Appearance

Small and slender as most Granthelians come, Holly keeps a somewhat-muscled build even as the years go on. Hair style is of little importance other than keeping it out of her face, though usually the ginger locks even refuse to do as little as that. She smiles easily and her grey eyes are warm.

## Background

Raised at the great Hawthorne House in Granthel, Holly spent her first years running around with all the other relatives of her generation before being sent to yet another family property. This time she traveled without her mother at her side and would come to spend her adolescence with her grandmother, over the years gleaning almost as much as a university education from Mavis's grand library. When it was discovered that Holly had the Gift, her education shifted from practicalities to the arcane.

Between that time and coming to Novania at nineteen, Holly learned from her grandmother the practice of air magic, though in the final year the training proved too much for her grandmother and she fell ill shortly before Holly boarded for Novania. Coming to the new land as a young woman too far from the main branch of the Hawthorne family to pull any weight with her name, Holly sought work at the Drunken Huntress and remained in Room 3 until she'd saved enough to move out- she fell in love early and moved out with him to another house in town, keeping the job though the Huntress gained another room. She stayed close to Trish, possibly her dearest friend in Novania. With Cyrus she had Tegan, though shortly after her daughter's birth, Cyrus disappeared. Years passed, he was assumed to be dead. Fearing she couldn't raise Tegan alone and during the fiasco with King Roughian, Holly sent her daughter to live with a quieter branch of the family in Alenthyl to receive an education and hopefully become a daughter she could be proud of.

During the years of Tegan's absence, Holly took on the practice of fire magic with her friend Corvan, having met him through her time in the Blackguard. Still new at the art and with Tegan visiting for the summer, by now no longer a baby, Holly went on the joint night patrol with the NRA and met with the Northwood Marauders, suffering severe injuries in the bridge explosion. After that incident, her use of magic dropped significantly while she would remain in the Blackguard for years more, her progression proceeded slowly. Another run-in with a Blod'Juret while on vacation later, Holly left the military all together rather than be transferred to NRA, though the decision was heavily influenced by her husband at the time, Hank Atter. She also left the briefly-held position of archivist at the NIC.

For a time following that, Holly and Hank moved out to a small keep in Westmoor, seeking a quieter life. When the relationship went sour, the stircrazy woman returned to Driftwood once again, opened a bakery in Hearth and later another location in Driftwood, though matters regarding her family in Granthel drew her away for a couple seasons as, following the end of the War of Forsaken Faiths and the rising dead, the Hawthorne family patriarch passed away, leaving the choosing ceremony to the generation following- her generation. The choosing would have gone quicker had magic not vanished shortly after and what was usually a contest of prowess had to be determined by other means. The surviving family elders have been working on a new way to determine who would head the family, during this time allowing Holly to return to Novania. These days, with Tegan home for good, has enjoyed many days building her relationship with her daughter to make up for the years of absence.

## Personality

A generally light-hearted woman, Holly carries herself well and strives to be a well-liked person. She doesn't keep any inflated views of herself, happy to just live comfortably with her friends nearby. In recent years she's taken a quieter turn, not laughing as often, speaking more softly. The years go on, the loneliness sets in and as someone who had so many friends in her youth and a large family before that, she would never take the role of a ringleader or great expectation.

### Likes

* Summer
* Tea
* Coffee
* Perching on high places

### Dislikes

* A quiet, cold house
* Thunderstorms
* High shelves
* Being bored/not having purpose

### Quirks

* Absolutely despises wearing dresses- something she learned from Trish.
* Proficient fencer.
* Climbs her roof often.