Tariya

"The tawny face, the silver hair, the amber eyes, the unruly smattering of freckles across her cheeks."

An elf born to a Highlander mother and a Woodland father, Tariya was raised at a deep woodland grove among her father's people. She was 12 when her parents split up, her mother taking her younger brother Luzem away to the west, leaving her in the care of her grieving father. After the death of her father Tariya left the grove to forge her own path in nature, far away from the comforts of the small druidic society.

She has spent the vast majority of her adult years in solitude, wandering the wilderness and following the rhythm of seasons to make a living away from cities and societies. Her druidic magic allows her to shapeshift and she can spend long periods of time in various animal forms. She's resourceful and clever, and harbours an endless, gentle curiousity towards all living things.

Like most elves Tariya is tall, and her years in the wilderness have left her physically strong. Her olive skin and almost snow-white hair are traits that mark her as a Woodlander, with an undertone of gold in her colouration that's unmistakeably of Highlander origin. Her eyes are a striking amber, bright even in dimmer lighting.

Druidic magic

The magic harnessed and taught by druids draws directly from nature, and Tariya has always had a natural affinity for it. Shapeshifting is the most visible part of her magic, allowing her to see the world through the eyes of other creatures and learn from them. Even as an animal she retains some physical traits, often manifesting as her colouration resembling her true elven form. She utilises her knowledge of herbs, plants and mushrooms not only for survival when food is scarce, but also for natural treatments of injuries and maladies.

Woodlander society

The elven people residing in the north-western parts of the continent differ greatly from most others in that they recognise no centralised government, something only the halvlings of The Protected Lands have in common with them. Most Woodlanders live scattered throughout the country, simply known as The Woodlands, in small local societies and hamlets, often with little contact with other societies aside from trade, marriage and apprenticeship contracts. It is not unheard of for Woodlander families to live completely removed from the rest of their kin, and nomadic lifestyles are common, especially in the northern-most areas of the Woodlands.

Groves are the closest Woodlanders have to villages and cities, many of them warded against outsiders and animals alike. Life within the groves varies between societies, some more focused on teaching the workings of magic, others on herbalism and healing, or even farming. There are even some secluded groves dedicated to the study of decay and rot in nature - the mirror image of life, order and restoration -, though not all of them are within the Woodland borders.