About Elvina NaieathHer first name means ‘friend’ and her last name means ‘eternal oak’ in Elven. TL;DR Elvina is a Neutral elven herb witch (support) who uses her hexes to inconvenience foes and bolster her allies. Summary Elvina Naieath is a wanderer, mainly traversing the Southern Brevoy landscape, gathering rare plants, and then visiting various cities and settlements to sell her herbal remedies. Elvina lives a modest occupation of a herbalist, much to the annoyance of her familiar Hedgie, who sees more potential in his mistress. (More like the potential for a more lucrative occupation so they can retire early.) Elvina feels a bond with nature and strives to live in harmony with the natural world. Appearance Elvina has a graceful, slender physique accented by her long, pointed ears. She wears rich earthy colors of forest green, pomegranate red, and oak brown, which complement her dark hair and eyes. Personality Elvina enjoys the simple pleasures in life such as feeling the sun warm her skin and smelling a flower as it blooms. She doesn't hold herself to a schedule; she lets the wind take her where she needs to go. (She prays to Desna.) Elvina is prone to following her survival instincts, basing her decisions on what she's experienced and read. She loves to read and has spent a good amount of gold on books, which she keeps wrapped in silk. The witch is softhearted for plants and animals in need of rescue. Hedgie would be perfectly content curled up in front of a fireplace, being handfed mealworms from his silken throne. Currently, he spends most of his days sleeping and brooding inside his mistress’ adventuring sash. The ornery hedgehog sometimes requires a little bit of coaxing (and flattery) to eat new spells because he’d rather be spending his days sleeping and relaxing. Hedgie longs for the day when he and his mistress can retire somewhere warm and cozy. 1. The elves of Mierani Forest, young Elvina:
Situated between the Calphiak Mountains and the Velashu Uplands, the Mierani Forest has been the home of elves for centuries. This ancient, verdant forest is known for its firs, pines, redwoods, and plentiful wildlife, which is all gently maintained by the elves. One such elf, though young, sits in a gazebo study.
An armored elf with platinum hair and a no-nonsense attitude stands between the vined pillars. “Elvina, you’re on patrol tonight.” “I was on patrol last night.” Elvina looks up from the book in her lap, Flowering Plants of The Varisia Region. “There’s been a letter from Crying Leaf. Eviana Nirgassan has requested increased patrol along our borders.” More drow? Resigning to the responsibility, Elvina lays a ribbon between her current pages, shutting the book. The other elf nods and walks off, leaving Elvina to her thoughts. She felt like she was fighting for something that wasn’t hers. Abandoned by the elves when they departed Golarion before Earthfall, Celwynvian, the City of Emerald Rains, is the home to many drow. According to ancient elven lore, the Sovyrian had a nasty shock when they tried to return to their home, a millennia later, around 2632 AR. They’ve been at war ever since, preventing it from becoming public knowledge by strictly prohibiting outsiders from entering the city, under the guise of wanting to preserve Celwynvian as a refuge from the rest of the world. Elvina looks down at her slender arms. She was agile and young, but she hadn’t discovered her specialty. She suspected the elders were giving her double patrol to force her into an epiphany. That “Aha” moment when she decided to put down her books and pick up a longbow. Or commune with nature, taking on the aspect of a cat or bear for the sake of the Sovyrian. She did love the forest, but not the war. According to her books, Golarian was spackled with earthy landscapes worth protecting. Elvina sighs. Growing up isolated in the Mierani Forest was like trying to bud a flower underneath an ancient fir. There would never be enough sunlight. 2. Hedgie, the origin story:
During a time before Hedgie can recall, there was a terrible storm that lasted days, flooding sections of the Mierani Forest. Small ground animals suffered the most from the weather. They got caught in mud traps, their burrows were flooded, and it was difficult to get dry from the oppressive torrents of rainfall.
Elvina, still quite young, was scouted to mark trees fallen across patrolling lines. She and a party of five others suited up and walked the trail. It was a miserable march. Elvina’s cloak was heavy with rain and her traveling boots were caked in wet mud. Her longbow smacked the back of her knees and she knew she’d have bruises the next day. Halfway into their arduous trudging, they arrived at a fallen oak. It was ancient like a lot of the trees in Mierani Forest, but its roots were stereotypically shallow for an oak. The prolonged rainfall had made the surrounding dirt soft, and without enough of an anchor, the tree toppled. Elvina remembers touching the tree. Her hand pelted with fat raindrops as she touched the wet bark. Then squeaking. A mother hedgehog had made a nest in the roots of the tree but had been scared off or killed when her nest became exposed. Three hoglets remained alive. A fourth crushed under the weight of a root. A rivulet of blood and water was dripping from one of its tiny hind legs. It was terrible luck. “Wait,” Elvina called, “there are some babies here.” She pulled up her shirt, making a hammock to hold the hoglets near her chest. The three, scared and unaware of what was happening, struggled weakly against Elvina’s efforts, pricking the palm of her hand as she relocated them to her shirt. Out of morbid curiosity, she called for another to help her move the root trapping the dead one. Its rear foot was crushed and most of its lower half looked flattened. It blinked. Sluggish, but alive! She scooped the injured creature in her free hand and held it against her chest. “Live,” she willed it, “please live.” Hot tears spilled from her eyes and she held the injured animal closer still, careful to not squeeze too tight. Hoarse and full of emotion, Elvina insisted the party return. “We have to return now.” “Elvina, we still have checkpoints.” “I have to return now.” She didn’t wait for a response or permission. Elvina just turned and ran. It was difficult to walk in mud, even harder to run. Her pants were wet to the pockets and her stomach below her raised shirt was splattered with wet mud. The transported hoglets were stressed from the bumpy ride in her shirt, but they were safe now. With her. She carefully emptied her shirt on the bed, quickly tucking a blanket around the three before moving to her desk. Still holding the fourth hoglet to her chest, she worked one-handed, rummaging through vials and tins of dried plants. She mixed a concoction of herbs that reduce swelling and pain, pouring a small amount into a quill as a makeshift pipette. Elvina coaxed the hoglet’s mouth open, stroking its throat so it’d swallow. But it was weak and cold. Its eyes were barely open. “Please,” she cupped the tiny hoglet in her hand, trying to pour out all of her determination into this tiny creature. “You have to live.” She’d always loved animals but this one was special. Her voice was raw, but she sounded more confident now. “Please, just live,” she pleaded again. Tears and snot ran down her face but she didn’t wipe them away. Something much more important was in her hands. Elvina doesn’t know how long she stood in front of her desk, but it must have been hours because her patrol arrived back and someone brought her lunch and dinner. She remembers being taunted by her own thoughts. Are you sure you want this one? It’s weak. Yes, it has to be this one. Why not one on the bed? No, it has to be this one. The animal labored to breathe. Even with the brew, it was still in so much pain. This one. It has to be this one. It was her mantra. She repeated it for hours, so deep in her concentration, she was in a trance. Then, warmth was radiating from her chest. It traveled down both her arms and into her hands. Her fingertips were glowing and then so was the hoglet. Its mangled lower half grew plump and the tiny bones inside its hind legs seemed to heal. It opened its little eyes wide and they were black and shiny, its nose sniffing the air rapidly in interest. (In her desperation, she cast Cure Light Wounds without realizing it or knowing how.) Elvina felt the warmth, then confusion. And then the hoglet bit her! “Yowch!” She was careful not to drop the creature even though it was her gut instinct. “Congratulations.” Behind Elvina, her patrol lead had been watching. “I was going to berate you for abandoning your post until I saw your foraging a bond with your familiar. I’ve seen several bonds, but this one... Well, I've never seen a witch use a dying familiar to cast heal on itself.” "I-" Elvina hadn’t been completely aware of what she was doing. But then again, some part of her deep down knew she’d wanted this hedgie more than anything. Hedgie. She looked down at the tiny creature in her hands, “thank you.”
Build:
Point buy: Str 12, Dex 14(+2 Elf), Con 14(-2 Elf), Int 15(+2 Elf)(+1 Lvl 4), Wis 14, Cha 12 Patron: Healing Hit Points: 1d6 (+1 Con) = 19/19
AC: 10(+1 Haramaki, +1 Mithral Buckler, +3 Dex) = 15
Fort: (+1 Base, +1 Cloak, +1 Con) = 3
Languages Common, Elven, Celestial, Draconic, Gnome, Sylvan Skills (2 Base, +4 Int, +1 Favored Class, +2 Background Skills) 9
Animal Familiar Hedgie, the Hedgehog Feats Brew Potion Herb Witch Feat, Extra Hex, Improved Initiative Traits Pioneer (Kingmaker), Reactionary, Seeker (Of Plants) Specials Low-Light Vision, Elven Immunities, Elven Magic, Keen Senses, Weapon Familiarity Cantrips Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Resistance, Stabilize Prepared 1st-Level Spells (4/day) Cure Light Wounds, Enlarge Person, Mage Armor, Snowball Prepared 2nd-Level Spells (3/day) Cure Moderate Wounds, Glitterdust, Ice Slick Hexes Cackle (extend hex), Cauldron (Brew Potion feat & +4 Alchemy), Fortune (Levitate 1/day) Misfortune (roll twice and take the worse result) Wearing traveler’s outfit (default given), haramaki 3g, cloak of resistance +1 1,000g, mithril buckler 1,305g, dark green embroidered headscarf 10g, gold hoop earrings 25g, adventurer’s sash 20g, waterskin 1g
Familiar Hedgie’s Spells:
Cantrips (7) Arcane Mark, Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Guidance, Message, Read Magic, Stabilize 1st-Level Spells (10) Burning Hands, Comprehend Languages, Cure Light Wounds, Ear-Piercing Scream, Enlarge Person, Lesser Restoration (patron), Ill Omen, Mage Armor, Obscuring Mist, Remove Fear (patron), Snowball 2nd-Level Spells (6) Commune With Birds, Cure Moderate Wounds, Glitterdust, Hold Person, Ice Slick, Web |
