Earlier life: Elaine was the youngest child of an older couple living on the edge of the Caer Bryr in the west of Talingarde. Her parents were modereately successful selling timber, and Elaine's childhood was not a deprived one. She spent a lot of time reading books and studying with tutors, she did not take to childish games or toys. Despite being so much younger than her elder brother, Elaine quickly outpaced him in their studies. Despite her obvious superior intelligence, her parents still favored her brother over her. Maybe because he was older, maybe because he was male, it didn't matter to Elaine. She was smarter than him, better than him, and she did not like being treated as second best. The final straw came when her parents told her that she would not be able to attend University in Matharyn, because due to financial constraints, they could only afford to send her brother. She had been betrothed to the son of one of her father's business associates, and would be married once she came of age. This was not acceptable to Elaine. There was no way she was going to spend her life as the wife of some merchant in the middle of nowhere, she was meant for greater things. She had been studying herbs and plants with her tutors, but on her own time she'd been experimenting. She'd found that plants that can calm sleep could also make sure a person (or in the case of her experiments, frogs) never woke up, so long as the dose was adjusted appropriately. Her brother was fond of celebrating success with strong drink, and it was not hard to dose his "off to university whiskey" with enough nightshade to assure he would not be awakening the next morning. Her parents were heartbroken that their favorite son had overindulged so severely, and Elaine put on a good show of mourning as well. Over the next year or so, she convinced her parents that she should be sent to University to study Alchemy, as she showed such promise in that area with her tutors.
At University, Elaine excelled in her classes. She was the favorite of professors and librarians, putting her mind to success in her chosen discipline. During the day, she was a model student. At night, she spent her time seeking out darker and forbidden alchemical formulae that she found intriguing. In the course of her education, she met a man. His name was Fyn Dutton, and he was very good looking. He was also the son of an exceptionally well connected magistrate in Matharyn, poised to succeed his father and make a name for himself in society. The fact that he was easy to manipulate only made him more attractive to Elaine. She decided that this was the sort of man who would help her on her road to greatness, and she allowed him to become her husband after they had graduated.
The Crime: She continued her research at the University as a professor of alchemy, and over the course of 7 years learned more and more, both permitted and forbidden formulae. She also had two children with Fyn, a girl named Rhyanon and a boy named Derrin, mostly because it seemed to be the thing married people did. As any of her students would say though, she wasn't much good at the raising or teaching of children. It served no purpose for her to educate or to rear, and she found it dull. She spent as much time as she could in her lab or the library, neglecting her children and pupils, and even her husband. Not that she wanted to spend time with him either, his insistence to continue working under his father instead of asserting himself the way he'd always said he would when they were students infuriated her. He was supposed to be advancing their family beyond what his father had achieved, not keep licking the boots of a tired old man who should be retired by now. She came to the realization that what she had right now could not help her rise higher in Talingarde. She was where she had never hoped to be when she was a child: a wife, a mother, stuck at the same social level as her mostly useless husband. She had to be rid of her encumbrances. She knew a variety of quick-acting poisons, but worried their use would obviously lead back to her as an alchemist. She hatched a plan to make her family violently ill, as if from bad food. She herself would to take the poison as well, making sure to keep the antidote on hand. The children succumbed quickly, being so small, and her husband was not far behind them. She became hysterical with grief and her neighbors rallied around her. All except one, who thought that everyone had gotten sick awfully fast, and Elaine had recovered awfully quickly, and besides, there was just something off about that woman. The authorities descended upon Elaine's house and after a thorough search, found her stash of both poison and antidote. She was hauled away to prison, awaiting her execution for the murder of her family.
