Francesca Venturus

"Rage against the dying of the light."

## Backstory

### Early Life

Francesca Venturus was born without pomp nor circumstance to two farmers in a rather quaint village, located in the Andoran countryside. Her childhood was rather peaceful, and she and her family were happy. Her family was quite well known for their generosity and good heart, a fact that was quickly taken advantage of.

Instead of storing their extra grain, or selling for a rainy day fund, they gave all their surplus, not knowing whether the receiver would be deserving or not. When the harvest was good, they didn't worry, for she and her younger brothers all had enough to eat.

However, a single year of bad harvest left them all hungry, and Francesca, now 16, took the family's old sword, and set off as an adventurer, hoping to make enough gold to keep her family afloat.

The first two years were fine. She was able to join an adventuring party and send back the excess gold to her family, or at least she thought she did. During her time away, and unbeknownst to Francesca, her father had died, and out of necessity, her mother remarried. Her mother's new husband started to take the gold that she sent, feeding her family lies about Francesca having abandoned them. Eventually, they started to believe the lies, and when Fran returned home, she was met with cold shoulders, so, not wanting to cause any more harm to her family, she left.

### Wandering

After leaving behind her family, she worked herself to the bone, for a while becoming vengeful, almost hateful. She took quest after quest, uncaring for her own safety, until, deep in a cave, after taking a solo quest, her sword was broken by an oversized orc, leaving only a worn hilt behind. She was prepared to accept death, but somewhy, she heard a voice from the hilt, ordering to pick herself up and *win*. From this command, her subconscious obeyed, and with a cry of defiance, she drove the hilt into the Orc's body. Except it was not merely a hilt anymore, it was a glowing blade of ectoplasm, fire, and distortions. Armed with this new weapon, she left with one lesson learned. She would never keep moving forwards again.

### Heart of Gold

Her resolve led her to accompany a group of Pathfinders: Alexei, the Wizard; Elle, the Rogue and Ronald the Cleric. For five years she travelled with these three, always the first one to bear the brunt of attacks, and the one who took the lion's share of wounds. With this group, for the first time in years, she felt at peace. Her new friends, all of whom had lofty ambitions, had known each other since they were young, and within the first two years, their experiences led them to add Fran to their little family. These years were, however, full of hardship, with rival Pathfinders and monster trying to defeat them at every turn. However, their staying together even through all the suffering made Fran realize that there will always be someone worth fighting form even if all seems like darkness.

### Mind of Steel

The end of these adventuring days was marred by the grimmest day in Fran's life. The day one of the members of her new family, Alexei, died. They'd been diving deep into some Dwarven ruins when they were besieged by Drow and their aberrations. Alexei, being less swift of foot, made them slower, and none of them were strong enough to carry him and still make it out, and so out of his own volition, Alexei, turning around, bade them all to live a good life for him. The last she heard from him was an emotion filled cry: "For those we cherish, we die in glory." before a detonation, allowing the other three to escape. After this, the party broke. Elle and Ronald settled down together, and Fran was left to wander once more. Yet now she was not lost; she had Alexei's last words branded into her mind. These words, along with her previous experiences, led her to a single realization: Even if the world is cruel, each individual must rage against the dying of the light. And at that moment, for the second time in her life, she felt her sword speak.

### Steel's Awakening.

It was a rather jarring surprise that her sword could speak into her head. It was even more jarring that the voice in her head belonged to her great-grandfather, the original owner of the sword. Her surprise was even further increased by the fact that his spirit had always inhabited the old family sword, but had been rudely jolted awake when the blade was shattered. After the small push, he'd chosen to remain quiet, and was happy to see that she kept using the blade, even if it was in a manner he would never have expected. From here on out, she kept hearing his voice every time she trained, subtly nudging, helping her improve, and rely more on her skill, rather than the raw power of the blast she'd learned to command. Eventually, her great grandfather had a brilliant idea: He remembered tales of a magnificent training hall in the city at the center of the world, and knew that there she'd be able to thrive. So, packing light, Francesca Venturus headed to Absalom.

## Story So Far

She was hired on the Train to Qadira as a guard, supervising the transport of cargo, on a trip where she and her fellow guards were accosted by shapechangers.

## Appearance

For all intents and purposes, Fran is a rather plain looking girl. She has no truly outstanding, nor remarkable features of her own physicality, apart from a rather impressively toned, yet lithe body. Her hair is a shade of blonde so dirty it almost looks gray at times, and she usually leaves it loose, where it has a tendency of covering one of her eyes. Speaking of her eyes, at first glance they appear to be a dull grey, but upon closer inspection, they reflect a wisdom, and a weariness, far beyond her years.

Her skin is rather pale, from all those years diving in deep caves, even though she'd grown in the fields, harvesting under an unforgiving sun. This rather pale complexion makes it all the easier to see the bags under her eyes, and the dirt and grime that accumulate on her during her jobs.

## Personality Traits

On the surface, Fran seems to be a rather sullen, lethargic woman. This is in part due to her having lost so many people over the years, and the fact that the only person she can currently trust is, in essence, her ghost great grandfather. This rather melancholic demeanor, further surrounded by a layer of cynicism and snark, serve to hide a kind, selfless personality, still somehow optimistic, still moving forward, trying to make a better tomorrow for herself.

## Friends/Enemies

### Friends

* Alexei
* Ronald
* Elle
* Rageborn

### Enemies

* Her Stepfather.
* Nihilists