Erenil Halfshadow

Erenil is a survivor. An elf hunter whose desert nomad tribe was wiped out by raiders when her daughter was very young, she braved the sands and sought refuge among a neighboring tribe. There, they lived out a life of relative peace in secrecy, until her daughter fell ill. Now, Erenil wanders the wastes in search of the mythical creature whose venom is believed to be a reagent for a panacea that could cure her daughter at last.

Talents & Traits

cautious • compartmentalizes feelings • compassionate toward and patient with the young, harsh on those who should know better • contingency planner • distrustful of strangers • hardy constitution • illiterate but deeply appreciates knowledge • lithe • long legged • loves singing but rarely shares her voice • melancholy • practiced grace • pragmatic near to cruelty • quick to anger • respectful of her elders • ritualizes her routine • silent on sand • strong • superstitious • tall • withdrawn

Beast Companion. Erenil is bonded to the psychic hunter who runs at her heels. Unlike normal beasts, Azhar feeds off fear and terror.

Inner Peace. Lying in wait for prey to approach the watering hole. Keeping her cool in life-and-death situations. Long nights spent standing sentinel, watching for raiders. Known as “The Stillness of the Night,” the meditative techniques passed down to her from her elders give her focus, patience, and an unflappable demeanor.

Pathfinder. More at home in the desert than in camp, Erenil is adept at traveling through the wastes and wilds. She can always find or make a trail, saving time and conserving resources for her or her party.

Sharpshooter. Erenil was trained in archery from an early age, starting as soon as she was strong enough to string a practice bow. As the cost of missing her target would often mean hunger, she practiced relentlessly, learning the weak spots of her prey to take them down more quickly and efficiently. In combat, she prefers to take out her enemies before they can get close enough to fight back.

Wild Talent. After getting separated from her hunting party, Erenil came face to face with a kirre cat in the desert. In the hair’s breadth between life and death she relied on a sixth sense to dodge its lethal claws. Now, she uses her preternatural senses to help her track prey and evade threats.

Background

Erenil was born to the Desert Roses, a nomadic tribe of elves living in the deep desert. Unlike many of the trading clans known to the city-states, the clans of her tribe followed the old ways. They eschewed commerce, instead foraging the desert for sustenance, and hunting and raiding for what they could not find otherwise. The herbalists and druids of their tribe knew many secrets that others had forgotten, and they cultivated and foraged for rare plants and medicinals to create remedies and healing droughts, but also poisons and mind-altering drugs.

Erenil grew up around herb lore, but that was not to be her calling. The Halfshadow clan remained on the edge of camp, hunting hide and bone instead of leaf and stem. She learned the habits of the creatures of the desert, which could be eaten or used for parts, and how to kill them or harvest their eggs, hives, and hides. She earned her obsidian knife soon after she could walk, and helped to skin and tan and whittle the fruits of the hunt into clothes, tools, and weapons.

She had already survived much hardship when she conceived her daughter with a mysterious stranger from a distant land. The clan celebrated the girl’s arrival, but before she could be named and brought up in the Halfshadow traditions, raiders struck, killing many in the tribe and sending the survivors fleeing in all directions.

Erenil didn’t care who the raiders were or why they attacked. She had only enough energy left to focus on her survival and that of her child. They eventually found refuge among the Wind Dancers, but a sickness that afflicted the tribe’s kanks spread to the elves as well. Erenil’s daughter eventually recovered, but was never the same. Now, Erenil ranges the desert searching for a true cure.