Some two decades ago a young Taldan nobleman named Ruprecht Meridanae left his homeland in the hope of finding glory defeating the demon hordes springing forth from the Worldwound. He traveled north to the city of Kenabres to join the crusades. His grit and determination led him to be a successful warrior, and a well known name around the city. In time he also found love, a sorceress attached to his company named Adeira.
Soon after they found their love, Ruprecht and Adeira got married. Life was short and fraught with danger for them, and they didn't want to waste any time. Soon after they were married, they were blessed with the birth of a wonderful son named Isaac, and a few years later a beautiful daughter named Isolde. And for a while they were as happy as a family in Kenabres could be. That is, until disaster struck.
One day, nearly a year after Isolde was born the family was enjoying a nice quiet day at the lakeside, when all of a sudden they were attacked by a pair of demons. Though Ruprecht and Adeira managed to take down both of them, Ruprecht was killed during the fight, while Adeira was unconscious for several days before finally dying, despite all the efforts of the priests of Sarenrae.
The priests of Sarenrae took in the two children, who due to their loss grew ever closer together. They were nearly inseparable for years, but unfortunately the order had other plans for these children. While Isaac, fit and strong was chosen to become a warrior of Sarenrae, the frail and petite Isolde was assigned to the order's administrative corps. For years she studied languages, history and religion, as well as techniques on caring for the sick and wounded.
From time to time, Isolde would have dreams, in which the Goddess Sarenrae came to her, and told her to keep following the path she had laid out for her, and that all would turn out as it should. When Isolde would mention this to the priestesses, they would dismiss it, and tell her to get on with her work, or her studies, or in some cases scolded for telling lies. This made Isolde doubt herself, and also become afraid of expressing herself for fear of being punished again
At the age of seventeen, Isolde was resigned to a life of quiet servitude, aiding the crusades effort from far behind the front lines. She served in the order's hospital, and also taught the city's younger children in the order's cloister school. She often thought of her parents, and how ironic it was that she was being raised by the order of the dawnflower. A religion her father had always stood against due to the Taldans' distrust of them. She also thought about her brother, who was training to become a paladin, and one day soon would join the crusade to fight the hordes to the north.
Then one day as she was caring for a group of wounded soldiers, Isolde had a vision of her goddess appearing, as she had done so many times. This time something was different though, because when the dawnflower appeared, Isolde noticed her own hands beginning to glow, and soon it was as if her whole body was glowing brightly. Maybe a minute later all returned to normal, but the soldiers in the room were suddenly feeling a whole lot better.
The order immediately tested the girl, and soon concluded that Isolde was a cleric of the dawnflower, though she had not been trained in the arts of magical healing or combat. But when the girl picked up a scimitar, it was as if her hand was guided by Sarenrae, and the order was convinced. Now Isolde is studying with the clerics to become a full healer. Though she'd like nothing more than to fight alongside her brother, she knows that the chances of that happening are very slim.
