Claire Spero's page

Archon Empyreal Lord
Title: Princess of the Sky
Alignment: LG
Areas of Concern: Redemption, hope
Worshipers: Miners, those seeking hope
Domains: Air, good, animal, earth
Subdomains: Cloud, archon, feather, caves
Favored weapon: Longspear?
Symbol: An owl silhouetted against the moon
Sacred animal: Owl
Sacred colors: Black and white

Inanna represents eternal hope for those in darkness. No matter how far underground her worshippers may be, they can always hope to be lifted up again to the clouds. Her sacred animal, the owl, symbolizes this redemption journey with its nightly migration from cave to sky. Because of this hope, Inanna’s worshipers are comfortable underground, believing she will always draw them back into the moonlight.

Claire grew up in a small village with a name you’ve never heard of. She was the oldest child born to her parents. Her father, a skilled carpenter, took her into his workshop at an early age. She loved watching him bring shape out of unshaped wood or plan how the pieces of a building would fit together. When she got big enough, Claire helped out as much as she could, passing her father tools and watching it all eagerly. Sometimes, he made bows for some of the local hunters. The graceful strength of those weapons took her breath away. As she grew older, her father let her help more and more with his projects. By the time she came of age, she was directing barn-raisings. How satisfying it was to see all the pieces come together as the villagers put their backs into the work, forming a sturdy building rooted in a solid stone foundation.
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When she wasn’t helping her father in the workshop or her mother in the garden, Claire went on long walks with her lifetime friend, Oliver, a young half-elf boy. The quiet boy didn’t talk much but Claire’s cheerful and talkative nature filled in the gaps as they walked through the hills. Claire would get a shiver as she ran her fingers along the exposed rock of the cliffs, taking joy in the silent strength of the stone. It was a lot like Oliver. Always quiet, but always there. As they grew older, these walks grew no less frequent. And when Oliver asked Claire to marry him, it just seemed like the natural next step in their lifetime friendship.
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Life wasn’t always easy in their village. Claire had projects to direct while helping Oliver with his farm. And soon, they had children on their hands! They were exhausted at the end of every day but happy together. And they still found time for their walks in the hills. Claire did most of the talking but whenever Oliver spoke, she listened. She’d learned long ago that her husband, though quiet, rarely wasted words but said things worth hearing. The same couldn’t be said for her children, though! The little scamps often tried to fool her with the baldest of lies but she learned to see through them soon enough.
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And before she knew it, they were having little scamps of their own. Claire loved having grandchildren almost as much as Oliver did. And she put her diplomatic skills to work getting them to eat whatever roots she found in the woods or vegetables had come from the garden. And though she and Oliver walked more slowly now, their rambles through the countryside brought them no less joy. But one day while they walked, a green flash of light lit the sky. The rumblings sounded like some sort of mother of all storms so Claire and Oliver sought the shelter of a nearby cave. But the storm didn’t pass like it should have. Claire went outside the next day to see some strange, snow-like substance falling in the middle of summer. But it burned when it touched her skin! In pain, Claire rushed back into the cave.
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”We’ll wait.” said Oliver. ”Wait? How can we wait?” Claire replied impatiently. ”We have to find the kids and help them.” Oliver shook his head. ”They’re either somewhere safe by now…” he paused for what felt like forever ”Or we can’t help them...” Claire hated to wait but she knew Oliver was probably right. So they waited for the snow or dust or whatever it was to go away. They waited and waited for days but every time they stepped outside, they couldn’t step on the dust without the falling dust burning them. Eventually, Claire insisted on pressing on but fell. She staggered through the burning “snow” but eventually it overcame her and she fell unconscious.
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She dreamed for a long time. She saw a middle-aged man living in a group of hunter-gatherers. He watched thoughtfully as his tribe constantly moved around to find fresh hunting grounds and new areas still replete with wild herbs, roots, and berries. The hunts were dangerous. An owlbear brought down one of the tribesman with a claw. The older man summoned vines to wrap around the great beast until his allies brought it down. Then he bent over his companion and healed him. As the man grew older, he began collecting seeds of some of the edible plants. One day, he removed weeds and grasses from a patch of meadow and planted his seeds in the ground. He watered them carefully day after day in between his hunting trips and cast a spell over them each time. Eventually, they sprouted and grew. When his group wanted to move on, he shook his head and pointed to his thick crops, urging the group to settle down. After much talk, they did so, building wooden homes under the old man’s instruction. Then Claire saw the man lying on his deathbed, surrounded by a happy community of well-fed friends and family.
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Eventually, she awoke to find Oliver bending over her, his beard grown thick and long. He had fed carefully her fish he caught in the cave and water from the stream for months, keeping her alive. The joy in his eyes faded somewhat when Claire asked if he had made it back to the village yet. He nodded slowly but the pain in his face told her everything. They were the only survivors out of everyone she had had ever known. Oliver slowly nursed Claire back to health as she lay in the cave. He was sturdy for his age and probably could have carried her somewhere else. But where would they go? As she lay in the cave, unable to see the sky, Claire started losing hope. But one night she noticed a dark shape soar past in the high, dark reaches of the cave’s ceiling. An owl going out to hunt for the night. She watched for it every night and saw it head out again and again. Somehow, its nightly journey from the confinement of the caves to flying in the night sky gave Claire hope.
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Finally, they could leave the cave and go home. Rain had washed the dust away. They returned to their village to find their friends either shambling mindlessly or torn to pieces by the shamblers. Claire broke down sobbing but Oliver pulled her up. ”I tried to tell you. We need to go.” Claire grieved as they flew back to the cave and for days afterward. But every night, the owl flew out of the dark cave and into the still-beautiful night sky and this gave her hope to come out of her own darkness.
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”Our children are gone” Claire said one night. ”But maybe our purpose isn't. We can help rebuild. Give people a home.” Oliver smiled quietly and nodded. They kept wandering, searching for a place to make a home, dodging shamblers as they went. Eventually, they found a run-down roadside tavern, the Galloping Gelding, with few shamblers nearby. Claire put her hands on her hips and gave the place an evaluating glance. ”Yep. This will be the place. The trees provide a lot of cover, somewhere to hunt, and keep this place hidden from shamblers. That and we'll have plenty of lumber when we start expanding.” Oliver nodded quietly and began arranging their few belongings in the abandoned tavern, finding a surprisingly helpful quantity of supplies as he did so. ”This place is well-stocked” he grunted happily.Claire beamed and immediately the old couple set to work.
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Claire put up signs inviting anyone to join their new town. ”Prevail!” she said. ”The perfect name. It tells people exactly what we’ll do.” Oliver smiled again but said nothing as he put in the beginnings of a garden with the seeds he had on his pouch. Claire immediately put up the signs to lead people to their new “settlement.” Within a week, a farmer named Brill and a blacksmith named Tormyn had joined them. Claire beamed with happiness to see her new community growing.