Eleanor was born to a rather large family in Absalom, being the second-youngest of seven children. Her parents were simple common folk, making a meagre living out of her father's minor skills as a rickshaw driver and her mother's part-time work as a cook at a local tavern. They lived in a flathouse on the outskirts of Eastgate, sharing the building with two other families that made the place a constant bustle of activity. Though never going hungry, all of Ellie's belongings were hand-me-downs, and scrounging up a couple of copper pieces every month or two to buy a sweet cream pie or pretty little bauble was nothing short of amazing to the young girl.
Her parents, simple but goodly folk, wanted nothing more for their children but for them to experience a better life than what they could offer them. Many of her elder siblings were pushed into apprenticeships from an early age. Ellie, however, had a dream: she wanted to join the city guard of Absalom whose strong and powerful figures she admired all throughout her childhood. She especially wished to join the Post Guard, having seen how its members selflessly threw themselves in the line of fire to protect the city. The one problem was her height--at a rather uninspiring 5 feet tall and not looking like she was going to grow any time soon. Not to mention her rather weak physique, there was almost no way she could pass the required physical examinations to join any of the district guards, and was laughed away for even asking. Her parents begged her to give it up and to try for a more realistic career--how about becoming a tailor instead, or a shoemaker?--but Ellie, having a bit of a stubborn streak about her, decided to shoot for her dreams... quite literally.
There was an old eccentric dwarf in her neighbourhood that most people avoided--a strange, battle-scarred veteran of the Worldwound. Cynical and bitter, Faraldur Duervalk was a master brewer, explosives expert, and something of a craftsman. He'd seen much in his time in battle against demons, and would still be out there fighting if not for his leg being torn off by a glabrezu and one of his eyes being eaten by a vrock (or so the story went). Most kids kept away from him, but Ellie found herself fascinated by the myriad stop-gap inventions he created to deal with his disabilities in day-to-day life. After listening to story upon story for many years, in helping the old dwarf in whatever she could, in letting him know her disappointment that she would never be able to achieve her dreams... one day Faraldur gifted her with an old relic of his war-torn era: a busted old musket.
Faraldur taught Ellie how to shoot, how to load in the black powder, and how to fix it should it blow up in her face. He taught her some of the basics of alchemy, how the right mix of concoctions produced some rather interesting results when loaded into the gun. Ellie showed surprising skill at arms, with a steady hand and precise aim... not to mention an enduring spirit that refused to give up. It really didn't take long for the halfling to have almost eclipsed the old dwarf's own skills at the rifle, or so he claimed. Ellie was sure that she would now be able to join the town guard as she so desired.
But oh how wrong she was! For all her skill at the musket, she was clumsy with a blade and couldn't handle the demanding physical rigueur and thus was apparently unsuitable for the life of a guard. Frustrated and disappointed, she returned home to sulk and wallow in self-pity... that is, until her father approached her one afternoon with a flyer he'd picked up in the marketplace. It was a recruitment advertisement for the Pathfinder Society...
Indignant at her constant failures, Ellie set out to go through the training process for the Pathfinders at the Grand Lodge of Absalom, and found it was much more suited to her personal talents--an inquiring mind and a talent for keeping herself from getting killed. And so she began her life as an intrepid explorer and chronicler, hoping to some day pen her own tomes of wisdom for others like herself.
