Skills:
Jump +8
Listen +5
Spot +5
Swim +3
Survival +1 (+4 when tracking with scent)
Feats: Alertness, Track
Tricks known:
Defend*
Heel
Down
* Druid bonus trick
BACKGROUND
Spoiler:
As a child growing up in a small village, Arla was forever finding injured animals and birds and bringing them to the village healer to help. When she brought back a young fox that she had found entangled in a hunter's snare, the healer finally suggested, half in jest and half in exasperation, that she should seek out the Old Raven, a druid said to live deep in the woods surrounding the village.
Arla took the advice to heart and sought out the druid, a process that took her weeks. Eventually finding the Raven, she begged the old lady to teach her what she knew, and the druid eventually agreed. One of the Old Raven's teachings to Arla was that she should learn as much of nature as she could, as she could not become one with what she did not understand. As Arla reached adulthood, the old druid advised her to seek out the different wildernesses of Varisia, to learn how each forest has a different spirit and personality, different inhabitants and different troubles plaguing it. With this fresh in her mind, Arla set out to broaden her experience of the natural world, stopping for a few weeks or months in each new place before moving on again.
During her travels, Arla passed through a small trading town. As she made her way through the dusty streets, she found a couple of children throwing stones at a young mongrel pup. Chasing away the children, she dressed the pup's injuries and decided to take him along with her, the dog quickly becoming her constant companion.
Recently, her travels have taken her to a place known as the Darkmoon Vale, to a town known as Falcon's Hollow. She has spent the last couple of weeks around this area, recently having heard from locals that some large, possibly supernatural creature has been stealing livestock from the town.
DESCRIPTION
Arla appears as a young woman with long dark hair and brown eyes. Her hair is braided in several places with small beads and feathers, the rest of it hanging loose. Her height is rather average, being around 5'6". She generally has a slightly unkempt appearance, her garb seeming travel-worn and well used.
Her companion, Ash, is a long-limbed dog with fairly long grey fur speckled throughout with black hairs. One of his ears is nicked and torn, but long since healed over, a remnant of his unpleasant start in life. His left front paw is white.
Ash has a fairly similar shape to a border collie, albeit a bit larger. I used the riding dog stats as the MM states that working dogs like collies should use riding dog stats
