Raina Seris

Player: StormOfWrath
Name: Raina Seris
Race: Human
Deity: Sune
Languages: TBD
Height: 5’6
Weight: About 9.5 stone
Eyes: Green/Grey
Hair: A pale golden hued tangle, almost white

Appearance: Fairly pretty, a straight greek nose, deep blue eyes, and well defined cheekbones. Her skin marked by a several scars on her right cheek, curling up to just beside her eye and one ugly looking one on the right side of her throat (about 3 finger widths from her ear). Though faded a little and healed, they’re still visable.

A figure that has been relentlessly honed into shape, she sports a fairly powerful build, taut muscle gracing her stomach/abs. She’s obviously trained as a warrior given their development. Again, a few faded, old scars decorate the skin.

Her legs and rear are, like the rest of her, relentlessly honed into shape and form, whilst she may lack grace, obviously leaning towards more strength, she has a lean look to her and seems to know how to position herself in combat.

Personality Profile: Most people will encounter the definate snark and sarcasm that seems to be Raina’s standard personality. Not that it’s ever cruel or demeaning she just seems to naturally be snarky about most things rather than the aloof and cool that most people would associate with a paladin. Behind that however is a woman clearly wrestling with inner daemons, subconciously tracing the scars when lost in thought as if they still ache. Devout though, when needed she has a cool head, and will throw herself almost wrecklessly to defend those who need it, and to strike back against evil and darkness. She has a tendancy to push herself to the limit, and beyond possibly more than is really healthy.

Background

Born in the utter backwater village that is called Drawn Swords – an isolated village found in the Backlands of the Western Heartlands. There’s only two really notable things about it. Firstly it was regularly attacked by orcs, and secondly there was a nearby sacred site of Sune – defended by a group of villages calling themselves Stag Warriors (a group of warriors drawn from the village who helped defend the nearby holy site of Sune – though weren’t her faithful necessarily – though would be people she grew up with) , as well as the odd pilgrim or adventuring troop who passed through.

When she was six, a particularly brutal raid by the orcs claimed the lives of Raina’s parents, her father cut down trying to rally a group of warriors, her mother dying trying to protect an injured friend. Despite her tender years, this carnage was something Raina witnessed, and has remained with her, though given her age she inevitably lashed out and blamed the surviving Stag Warriors, and adventurers for failing to save her parents (she was young she don’t know better then). It also sat a deep set seed, a need for her to be ‘better’ to stop it happening to anyone else again too.

Given she was an orphan she was looked after by the rest of the village, and eventually after a couple of years she was drawn to the priest of Sune who lived near the village as they were always at the forefront of trying to help defend the village whenever it was attacked, and help the injured afterwards, perhaps she also saw in Sune a substitute mother figure – loving, generous, kind, beautiful – not that she’d ever admit this. Partly too it was her desire to help in some way, the Priest was not getting any younger, and standing on the frontlines against raids, and helping the injured would be something he was finding harder and harder to keep doing as he got older.

So she learnt the faith of Sune from the priest, and how to read and write, and other useful knowledge on healing, herbs, and turned her hand to various artistic persuits, something she lacks the talent for as terrible paintings, worse poety, and disasterous pottery can attest. Her natural sarcasm and droll sense of humour soon also proved that she made her a bad fit for the priesthood, but her passion and desire to help made her a natural (sort of) fit for paladinhood, at least in her mentor’s eyes. Under his guidance, the local Stag Warriors taught her to fight, though she’d also pick up bits from any pilgrims, or adventuring groups passing through. This left her with an extremely unorthodox style for a paladin, willing to use anything to hand to fight, and improvising where needed, if there wasn’t a sword, an axe would do, if no axe, a scythe, or spear, or even just using a shield. It also meant she didn’t particularly pick up the same methodical way of thinking about combat, of strike, counterstrike, parry, it became more natural to her to keep it flowing and graceful, trying to be unpredictable in attack, and solid in defense.

Her world view however would take a serious knock when she was 17. Another large raid by orcs assaulted a group of pilgrims, and the village, storming the defenses. Rain threw herself into the defense but was no real match for the powerfully built, and more experienced orc warriors. The pilgrims were killed to a man, alongside several of the Stag Warriors she’d known all her life. Throwing herself at a particularly large orc to try and desperately save one of her friends who’d joined the Stag Warriors she was brutally brushed aside, recieving the facial scars she still sports. Following her recovery she refused to have the scars removed given she was less than the perfection she feels she needed to maintain to defend her friends, the pilgrims, and the innocents. If she was honest with herself, she’s refused to accept that it wasn’t her fault, that she did what she could have done to the best of her ability, that one on one she was always going to be outmatched by a seasoned warrior. It is something she continually berates herself for, and that she uses in her drive to be ‘perfect’ as a protector and paladin. And that she’s fully aware the scars are effectively a black mark on this perfection as they’re a blemish, something obvious to anyone who cares to look.
For the next several years, she relentlessly trained, honing her form so it wouldn’t let her down, training without rest with weapons to know their strengths and weaknesses, grilling any adventuring party or pilgrim with any even minor knowledge of warfare on tactics, on skills, testing herself against anyone who’d spar with her.

As she turned 20, her elderly mentor called her in to speak to him and, over Raina’s protests stated that it was clear she couldn’t learn any more from such a small shrine, and only a single priest, eventually pointing out that in theory he was her superior, in order to stop her arguing, he directed her to go to the new (well new that they’d heard of) temple in Arabel in Cormyr to learn more from the much larger temple there. The larger clergy would help her grow in faith and knowledge, and her brothers and sisters in arms would ensure she was ready to stand the vigil that’d make her a full Knight of the Ruby Rose. Initially overwhelmed on arrival Raina strove to prove herself to her brethren, driven to obtain the perfection she believes paladins should embody. Recently having completed the vigil, and joining the Ruby Rose Raina is now seeking to prove herself worthy of that.

Goals

• Improve the standing of Sune’s paladin order amongst the people
• Improve the standing of Sune’s clergy amongst the people
• Obtain perfection
• Defend the innocent, bring joy and love to those who need it. Teach people that Sune embraces all, and loves all.
• Erradicate darkness and evil, either by drawing them back from the darkness they wallow in, or with a blade if needed

Enemies

• Orcs – Raina holds a special hatred of them. Hatred isn’t necessarily fitting a paladin..but again, Raina’s never claimed to be perfect!.

Possible plot hooks/story ideas

• Raina’s old mentor is still alive; eventually he’ll retire from the ‘frontlines’ due to his advanced age, she owes him more than she’s ever admitted, and he may view her as a surrogate daughter given the long mentor/pupil relationship they had – she has considered going to visit him – he’s probably thought the same
• Avenge her parents – whilst vengence isn’t fitting for a paladin – Raina’s never claimed to be perfect…she’s still on her way to it
• Raina possesses an almost self destructive need to prove that she’s worthy of Sune’s favour, she’ll give all to defend those in need, even if its not the smartest idea.