About Sera HarlowSera Harlow
Background:
"Zev. So that's what your name is." The girl closed the ragged journal she had found and looked down at the wolf that had led her to the secluded grove. His eyes hadn't left her since they had arrived, its tail wagging and his eyes looking at her expectantly. "Don't look at me like that. I don't care what the journal says." It was all a lot to take in at once.
*** This wolf, Zev, had been stalking around her home for days now, slowly inching it's way closer with each passing day. For some reason she couldn't explain, she knew the wolf meant no harm. After a week of seeing the wolf on the horizon each afternoon, Sera gathered her courage and approached the animal. It didn't run and it didn't attack, it simply stood there, eyes locked on the girl. When she came within an arm's reach of the wolf, she was able to make out a subdued whimper. The wolf watched her for several minutes before turning toward the nearby forest, a final glance back at the girl indicating he wanted her to follow. Sera wasn't sure why she bounded off into the woods after a wolf that had essentially been stalking her. She expected to be led to an injured cub or dying mate but what the wolf actually led her to was beyond anything she could have imagined. Among the heavy undergrowth of the forest was a circular clearing, lined with rounded stones arranged in a ring around a central pedestal. Upon the pedestal lay the heavily decomposed body of an elderly man, a ragged journal resting on his chest. Everything about the scene was depressing yet somewhat poetic, including the way the plant-life in the circle seemed to droop and wilt. The wolf had brought her here for a reason...and the only way to find out why was to read the journal. She took a deep breath and sighed, steeling herself as she approached the pedestal and the dead body upon it. She turned her face aside as she got near the body, extending her arm as far as she could to grab the journal without getting too close. That's when everything sprang to life. Runes carved into the stones began to glow and hum softly. The grass and other plant life in the circle seemed to perk up all at once, as if trying to get a better view of the newcomer. Even Zev joined in with a few happy barks, though Sera had no idea why she knew he was happy. Well, she didn't know he was happy so much as she felt he was happy. *** That all happened 6 years ago and very little remains of the farm girl that spent every night huddled over the journal she found in the forest. Ever since leaving her home early one morning when the call of the forest became too much to resist, Sera began a transformation into someone completely different. Sure, she's always had a fondness for animals and nature and she's always been self-sufficient - she had to be to make it on the frontier - but as Sera grew and evolved, all those qualities became so much more. Looking back on the whole ordeal, she can't help but think there's a higher purpose for her. Zev came to her when he could have visited any of the other two dozen or so people that lived in the area. The Old Druid's journal came into her possession not by chance and it was the musings and philosophy within that coaxed her from her home in Brevoy. For better or worse, the Stolen Lands are her home now and in a sort of weird way, Oleg and Svetlana are her new family. At first, the relationship was nothing more than business - trading furs and others spoils for things that caught her eye - but the couple took a shining to the teenaged girl that braved the wilderness alone. Sera quickly found herself returning the feelings, turning the quiet little outpost into a safe haven where she is always welcomed.
Personality:
Sera's had very little human interaction the past 6 years of her life so it was only inevitable that a few eccentricities would pop up here and there in her personality. Luckily, she's had Oleg and the occasional traveler or two to keep her from going too insane or turning into some kind of people-hating hermit. Her most notable quirk stems from the fact that she's spent so much time talking to Zev; Sera just sometimes flat out forgets that people can talk back. It's a fairly harmless habit but it can lead to some odd conversations where Sera is basically just talking to herself or doing things like asking people questions and then immediately answering for them based on their body language or what she thinks they're thinking. ("Are you hungry? Look at you! Of course you are!") While she's used to carrying a conversation on her own, Sera loves to hear other people talk, especially if they have a story to tell. A traveler with a head full of interesting tales can keep her attention for hours, whether it's with war stories, love stories, or just stories about their life in general.
Having missed out on a good portion of her formative social years, Sera is also a bit on the childish and immature side. She dislikes being bossed around and has absolutely no idea how to behave around men half the time. When in doubt, Sera hides behind sarcasm, preferring to appear distant and disinterested rather than let someone know how she truly feels in a given situation. A great deal of Sera's morals and beliefs are derived from the journal she reads so often. Even so, the journal doesn't cover everything so a great deal of her druidic beliefs are made up on the fly; gut instincts that decide her course of action rather than some ingrained lesson she never received. For Sera, civilization doesn't have to be a bad thing so long as humanity remembers its place and treats their home with respect. She also has a deep seated belief that everything deserves the right to live, no matter how much humans may elevate themselves above both fauna and flora. The journal itself is easily Sera's most prized possession and she is aggressively protective of it. Appearance:
Sera's lineage goes back much further than anyone in her family could ever hope to remember and is a mix between various human cultures and an elf or two throughout the centuries, creating a family tree that would be difficult for even the most dedicated researcher to plot. This muddled background manifests itself visibly, giving the young woman a few somewhat exotic facial features such as the prominent cheekbones that the elves are more commonly known for. Her wavy hair, while predominately brown, has noticeable streaks of blonde and has grown halfway down her back in the years since leaving home. The tone of her eyes matches that of her hair though most people that meet her gaze find it to be a bit more stern than they would expect from someone so young. Her skin is heavily tanned, both from her years on her family's farm and from the nomadic lifestyle she adopted afterwards.
Nearly everything Sera wears was crafted by her own hand from animal skins and furs. Both her pants and her vest are a rough patchwork of various animal hides. Her backpack, belts, pouches, scabbards, boots, and bracers all share similar craftsmanship. Underneath the protective layer of hide, Sera wears clothes that can only be described as 'simple'; a green top and brown pants, both of which bear marks of Sera's frequent trials in the wilds. Despite the rarity of other humans in her forest home, Sera still wears the jewelry of her former life, unable to truly let go of some of her girlish proclivities. Wolf Companion:
Init +2 Senses Low-light vision, Scent, Perception +5
-------------------- Defense -------------------- AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+2 natural armor, +2 Dex, +1 Dodge) HP 19 (3d8+6) Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +2 -------------------- Offense -------------------- Speed 50 ft. Melee Bite +4 (1d6+1 plus trip/x2) -------------------- Statistics -------------------- Str 13, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6 BAB +2; CMB +3; CMD 15 Feats Dodge, Weapon Focus (Bite) Skills Perception +6, Stealth +6 Languages Woof, Bark, Howl SQ Link, Share Spells Gear None Tricks Attack (bonus) -------------------- Special Abilities -------------------- Dodge +1 Dodge bonus to AC. Link A druid can handle her animal companion as a free action, or push it as a move action, even if she doesn’t have any ranks in the Handle Animal skill. The druid gains a +4 circumstance bonus on all wild empathy checks and Handle Animal checks made regarding an animal companion. Share Spells The druid may cast a spell with a target of “You” on her animal companion (as a touch range spell) instead of on herself. -------------------- Appearance: Zev's fur is a collection of browns, grays, and a few spots of white. He has two distinguishing features that set him apart from a normal wolf. Firstly are his sharp blue eyes. Secondly is the camouflaged bandana Sera insists on tying around his neck. Despite protests from the animal (he manages to slip out of it nearly every night), she reties it every day and remarks on how cute it makes him look. |
