Maia grew up on (and sometimes beneath) the streets of Arrabar. Her mother was a caring woman who did all she could to support the two of them until she died of fever; Maia was a small child–no more than 5 or 6 years old–at the time. The only thing she knows about her father is a half-remembered story her mother told her about him being a knight. With nobody to care for her, she had to take to the streets to beg. She was fortunate enough to fall in with some older street kids who taught her where and how to beg (in exchange for a cut of what she made, obviously), and how to hide from the watch when they came poking around. She was rather shy though, and easy to overlook, which didn’t lend itself well to begging, but some of the older kids taught her to pick pockets and found she had a real knack for that. As they grew older, their crimes grew more brazen and her friends taught her to pick locks as well so she could aid them in their burglary.
Arrabar is famous for its many gardens and whenever she wasn’t begging, or stealing, Maia spent as much time as she could in them- often going so far as to hide in them overnight to sleep rather than squatting in vacant buildings with her friends. She loved the look of the leaves and flowers, and the smells that somehow reminded her of her mother. She was also enthralled by a black-banded owl she often found in various gardens. She spent hours watching him and at dusk would practice being as silent as possible so as not to startle away any of the grasshoppers or mice he would hunt. She named him Sir Blackwing (a name she later stole for herself when it seemed good to have a surname) and often chatted away with him while he ate.
Her love of the gardens and odd relationship with Sir Blackwing caught the attention of Elonna Spraig, an aging druidess who worked in the city as a gardener. The matronly woman took her under her wing and began to teach her about nature and the power that moves in and through it. Maia continued to make time for her friends, and for her ‘job’ with them but some distance started to grow between them. A year later, when she took her vows and joined the druidic order, things with her friends changed. Many of them were happy for her and told her how excited they were for her and her chance to ‘go legit’ but Mikkel, their unofficial leader, accused her of abandoning them and told her not to come crawling back when she failed. His words stung, especially because she was failing to learn even the most basic spells. She showed an incredible aptitude for shapechanging though and, eventually, Elonna abandoned trying to teach her spellcasting entirely in favor of nurturing her natural gift. Now, equipped with that gift and the skills she learned from her friends, she’s setting out to make a name (and, more importantly, a fortune) for herself as an adventurer…
