Eliora Riese's page

Eliora was conceived and born in violence. Her father had been a soldier stationed at Castle Everstand. Rasvan Cosovei had been a native of Lastwall who grew up wanting nothing more than to fight against the evil orcs from Hold of Belkzen. The commander of Castle Everstand stoked the fires within Rasvan of wanting to take the fight to the orcs and not just hold the line. Foolish youth combined with wanting to prove himself, Rasvan and a few of his fellow soldiers set out one night to carry-out a blitz attack on a nearby orc tribe.

Unbeknownst to them, there was a fierce warrior ‘visiting’ the orc tribe they were targeting. Their chosen orc tribe, whether intentional or accidental, had insulted Ghorza from the Defiled Corpse tribe which needed to be punished with a visit from her. As she was having her fun, five humans attacked. They may have held their own against the others but not Ghorza. She easily killed four of them but on a whim, decided to take Rasvan as a captive to torture and violate as she wished. She threw a hog-tied Rasvan over her shoulder and took him with her. Rasvan was never rescued and it was during his time as Ghorza’s captive that Eliora was conceived. Even though Ghorza was unsure of who the father of her child was when she realized she was pregnant, she killed Rasvan. She planned to raise her child to be a great orc warrior and wouldn’t allow any weak human influence to affect it.

However, Iomedae had much different plans for the child that Ghorza carried. Elsewhere in Lastwall, there was a paladin of Iomedae who was having strange dreams. Egon Riese was having the same dream night after night of a crying half-orc infant and its orc mother who was not moving and there was a lot of blood. Then a voice who he knew was that of his patron would say, ”Save her, for me.” Egon couldn’t understand why Iomedae would want to save a half-orc child and so he resisted acknowledging the dream until he also experienced the same vision during his morning prayers when he was fully awake. Finally responding in obedience, he affirmed his intent to carry-out Iomedae’s wishes. It was then that his mind was flooded with information about where to find the child and that he didn’t have much time. His resistance had shortened the window of time that he had to find the child before she too would die.

Eliora never knew that she was the one who killed her mother. Ghorza thought of herself as indestructible because she had never been defeated. Even close to her due date, she continued to raid and fight. It was during one of these raids that she went into labor and fell behind the others until she was alone. The birth was a difficult one and Ghorza lost too much blood to survive. Eliora proved to be a fighter from the beginning as she struggled for life. To make matters worse, she was cut by her mother’s armor as she was born. As she lay bleeding in her mother’s blood, Egon finally arrived. Iomedae’s healing flowed through his hands as he scooped up the crying half-orc infant. Intense white light encircled the child which stopped the bleeding and left a strange scar on her left palm that looked like the sun. Seeing the child as Iomedae’s chosen light in the midst of darkness, Egon named the child Eliora. A name to represent her future and not her heritage.

Egon took Eliora back to Vigil in Lastwall where the church of Iomedae collectively raised her. Once she was old enough, Egon took responsibility for her training. It was no secret that Eliora’s orcish nature added a level of difficulty with emotional outbursts but Egon taught her how to harness her big emotions rather than shaming her for them. Eliora’s appearance often took others aback but her sunny disposition soon won over any that were put-off by her race.

When Eliora was fourteen and technically an adult, Egon told her that he was being called to Kenabres to aide in the fight against the Worldwound. He may be too old to fight on the Crusade’s front lines but he could share his skill and wisdom with others. Since Eliora thought of Egon as her father, she asked if he would take her with him. He was hesitant, not knowing how Eliora would be welcomed in a new city, but seeing the determined look on her face he knew that she would follow him if he said no. He decided that it was better if she traveled with him so the pair set off for Kenabres. It was at this time that Egon also bestowed his last name of Riese on Eliora so that when they arrived in Kenabres that others would know that they were kin.

Once they arrived in Kenabres, Egon was readily welcomed while Eliora less so. Initially, it was only because of Egon that Eliora was grudgingly accepted. Even as it was, she was only allowed to help as being part of the City Watch rather than immediately fighting in the Crusade. She was told that she needed to prove herself and her devotion to Iomedae by keeping the peace in Kenabres before she would be fully trusted to fight against their enemies. At first, she was hugely disappointed but she did as Egon had taught her to harness her emotions and decided to be the best member of the City Watch. Eventually, she’d become an integral and well-liked member of the Watch as her character outshone her appearance.

Egon always wondered what purpose Iomedae had for Eliora because her voice had been silent on the matter all these years that Egon had trained the half-orc he had rescued at the prompting of his goddess. The aging paladin had never told Eliora about how he had found her. He had only told her that her mother was dead and that there had been no sign of her father. He hadn’t wanted to tell her of being chosen by Iomedae for fear that it would lead to an inflated view of her importance. He trusted that Iomedae would reveal her purpose in due time.

Appearance:
Even though Eliora is only fifteen, she has reached her full height of 6’2” and is very solidly built. She is not very graceful and often the word ‘lumbering’ comes to mind as she moves. Her skin color is more green than gray and her tusks appear larger than normal giving her quite the menacing appearance. However, if one looks past her obviously orcish traits they would see kind eyes. Her black hair is quite long but she keeps it tightly braided in order to keep it out of the way when in her armor.

She has a sun-shaped scar on her left palm and she is a devout follower of Iomedae like her adoptive father. She has been trained to follow the path of a paladin of Iomedae by her adoptive father but is currently serving as part of the City Watch of Kenabres. Egon has outfitted her with a suit of chainmail, a shield, and a longsword which is the favored weapon of Iomedae. But she also has the uniform that marks her part of the City Watch.

Personality:
Having grown up in a lawful good environment, Eliora follows what she knows. This also makes her somewhat judgmental of others who don’t share her world view but the person she’s hardest on is herself. Knowing of her internal tendencies towards rage, she is constantly chastising herself. Thankfully Egon has patiently taught her over the years how to channel her big emotions whether fueled by anger, sadness, or happiness. This has led to a fondness for breaking things. When breaking things is not an option, Eliora will recite Iomedae’s Acts to herself.

She has a big heart and wants to help in any capacity that she can. She is always ready with a smile and a laugh but many often find her smile terrifying because of her large tusks. When initially meeting anyone, she tends to give them the benefit of the doubt and wants to see the best in everyone. However, this doesn’t prevent her from judging someone’s actions. If she thinks someone is doing something wrong then she’ll let them know and trust them to make the right decision.