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By David Wolin

Note: Her last name is no relationship to that of Eracuss the Archmage, merely a title as sir-name based on place of origin. She calls herself Vivane Gigantdotter or "Brass," which is one of the names she was called by her former master.

Vivane was the third daughter of a huntsman and a Ringkol priestess from Southern Onlor. Never speaking as a child, most people thought her mute, "pixie led", or simple minded. Around age 6 or 8 she continually chased after her father (a ranger) as he went into the woodlands pursuing game.

For a long time her parents tried to stop her (for obvious reasons) but eventually she got so good at running away and hiding that they couldn't catch her, and her father relented and took her along, reasoning if he couldn't catch her, a beast wouldn't have much chance either. When her father heard her talking to various birds and squirrels, he knew he had done the right thing.

She learned the basics of the Firlott faith and the ways of the wild. She would listen to her father honor the spirits of the animals he had slain, and Vivane began to talk to the spirits as well as the animals themselves.

When Vivane was age 10, disaster came in the form of a nobleman's son from a nearby province.

The game of his fathers preserves had been hunted dry social "hunts" by he and his ne'er-do-well friends, orgies of blood that featured needless killing for trophy horns and decorating pelts. The animals where left to rot if they had no noteworthy parts to take.

This "sport" had little to do with skill, but rather involved a small army of grooms and servants that would flush game toward the nobles' pavilion tent so they could be shot with crossbows from shaded comfort, within arm's reach of an iced beverage.

Often this dandy would have his men use drugged bait to capture a number of animals that he would later torture and kill in private for their sadistic sport.

Most of the real woodsmen (rangers and hunters) were sickened by these misdeeds and moved away rather than serve under such a monster, well-paying though he was. Vivane's father began working with a few of the other rangers to "cause trouble" for the hunting parties; diverting game away from the drivers, making noise to spoil their shots etc. The "dandies" soon suspected something was amiss and hired a local murder-for-gold bounty hunter named "Gorehound" to find out who was behind it.

With the aid of Gorehound and a house mage, the dandies followed Vivane's father to his home, which they put to the torch, making "sport" of murdering Vivane's father and family while she watched from the nearby trees.

Later that night, as the "dandies" lay in drunken stupors and exhaustion from their sadistic frenzy, Vivane stole into their camp and let all the animals free of their cages. The "dandies" where taken in their sleep and mauled by the wrath of Firlott. From the carnage of the camp she took her father's hunting knife and a signet ring of the dandy's house.

Most of the locals believed that the a local druid had put an end to them, but the Noble Father of the "dandy" went on a wrathful purge of the local druids searching for his son's "murderer", not knowing (or not believing) the stories of his son's misdeeds.

Vivane left the area. In shock and alone she wandered the woodlands of Onlor for a time, living on what she could forage and hunt, clothing herself with furs and skins, trading or rare occasions with kindly gnomes or halflings, and avoiding all human contact. Stunted by malnutrition and hard living (as well as coated with mud) Vivane was often mistaken for a gnome herself by local halflings. Eventually, she was taken in my a hermit who was an elderly of Firlott. He taught her the religion and, with his dying breath as he succumbed to his age, ordained her as a priestess

In time (around age 12) she met Herekwood the Hedgewizard, a dementia-suffering gnome wizard living in the hills outside Pordem. He believed her to be his long dead wife and welcomed her back as if she had been on a long trip. Vivane, half feral and not knowing the ways of simple social behavior (let alone polite society), took him at his word.

Vivane lived in occasional co-habitiation with Herekwood who loved her dearly. He would "tidy her up" with magics and baths when ever she came around and she would chat with his cat "Zachariastan" to learn the latest news.

Vivane was in the awkward position of being "wed" to Herekwood in the physical sense as well (since he actually believed her to be his wife) but she holds no emotional scaring from this (though it would shock many to learn of it). She had seen animals do it many times during her feral wandering and Herekwood's small stature and tender-hearted ways made her feel comforted by it.

She also learned to speak a fair number of languages since Herekwood's tongue would wander from place to place as he drifted in and out of lucidity. He also instructed her in a wide field of trivia and knowledge and she learned (in conjunction with her clerical abilites) to read magical script.

She and Herekwood played many long hours with silent images and dancing lights, each taking turns out-crafting the other with playful illusions. Vivane, eager to learn, put her studies deeply into divination, mistaking that in part of growing closer to the gods.

Much of Herekwood's teaching was mixed with teasing and fanciful tales, so Vivane's education is a little off-kilter. Added to this, Vivane has had little human contact for long stretches of time and has difficulty relating to people. She seems confused and maybe a little insane to outsiders. She relates rather to animals and nature inspired fantasy and poetry.

Vivane (being Herekwood's wife) gave him the only thing of monetary value she had (the dandy's signet ring.) In time Herekwood's travel to trade for material components took him to a market where the ring was recognized.

The noble lord, believing he had finally found his son's murderer, had Herekwood seized and "put to justice."

Vivane, now 14, not understanding what has happened to her "husband," has begun to travel throughout Onlor in search of him.

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