For all the fears of a life spent growing up in Trunau, it was the hopelessness of mundanity that bothered Rhiannon the most. A life of farming and fear, where the best she could be was safe in the comfort of her family's small farm, making enough for her own children--and her parents certainly wanted their only daughter to produce heirs to the plot that the family had worked her generations. Or a soldier, dying to protect her home and her friends. But for as much as Rhiannon found herself taken by stories of great heroes, she did not find romance in death.
She exhibited a budding magical talent at an early age, but one neither parent, lifelong farmers, could foster, or afford to foster, leaving her to merely experiment and atrophy away her potential as she intuited a few simple spells from what she could muster within herself, and some dusty old books on the subject she could find. Hardly enough to satisfy her steadily increasing thirst for knowledge, straddled somewhere between scholarly drive and mere curiosity. Soon, she wasn't merely reading books about magic, but anything she could get her hands on, fascinated in particular by artifacts, mythical items lost to time or turning in the hoard of some ancient dragon. The stories fascinated her, filling her minds with ideas of heroism and bravery very beyond her capabilities as a farm girl.
A farm girl who hated farming, one should note. She didn't feel particularly cut out for field work, although she certainly wasn't above the physical exertion of self-teaching herself swordplay and archery. Her passion did a great deal toward making combat training enjoyable, explained away to her parents as curiosity and the consideration of becoming a soldier. An absolute lie, of course. She wanted to be a hero. Wander the earth in search of treasure and glory, to herself be immortalized in story and song.
Song quickly became another interest of hers, as her voice came through. Sweet and stirring, earning her quite a few silver pieces when she spent her free time in the Commons, singing for the soldiers as they trained. She was told her voice was inspiring, and not merely because there were young men eager to impress the sweet-voiced girl with their martial prowess. Even those with no intentions toward the girl claimed that courage and drive welled up in their hearts as they heard her song, which put ideas and hopes into the girl's head. Heroes whose performances could stir greatness in warriors were hardly unheard of in stories, and perhaps she could find a career in that. Wandering the land, a bard for hire who could earn her way with her voice as much as her blade. Perhaps discovering lost relics, ending up in books herself as the discoverer of some long-forgotten treasure.
A pipe dream her parents would never let her pursue, as she came into adulthood and still found herself toiling away at the farm, given more freedom than a child but still shackled to her life and to expectations. To take a husband when she instead wanted to take journies, to harvest crops instead of seeking treasure. A disappointing life, but one she could clearly do little about, at least until the opportunity somehow presented itself.
Rhiannon is a flighty, optimistic young woman who tries to find a lot to be joyful of. Her upbringing in such a dour city under constant danger has left her trying to make the most out of life and find happiness wherever she can, hoping that in being cheerful she can inspire the same in others. Beyond her youthful, unstamped-out optimism is a shrewd trickster, hiding her cleverness behind innocence and a smile. If given an opening, she will exploit it, likely teasing whomever her poor victim is while she does. Even in the midst of combat, she can find time for laughter and whimsy.
