Shelya's page

About Shelya

Description: Shalya is a young attractive woman with flowing silken black hair and green eyes, and while she doesn't sport the bulk of a gladiator, she is quite able to protect herself. She wears an old set of leather armor, reinforced in some places with metal plates, which seems to have been in use for quite some time, but apparently not all of it by her, as it is a little to big for her. She has a bow sticking out of her backpack, and holds a glaive as other would a walking staff. The blade is well sharpened, and bears the holy symbol of Shelyn.
On her head she wears a broad-rimmed hat made of many different colorful straps that dance madly when she moves. The colors are slightly faded and the hat might have seen many a year under the burning sun of Varisia. A long violet feather sticks out from it.

Background: Shelya grew up as the daughter of a single mother in the slums of Riverport. Her mother was a cutthroat and thief, low in the picking order of that cursed city, and they lived mostly in poverty - she even used her own daughter as a distraction to pick the pockets of strangers who did not know what they had gotten into when they entered this wretched port.
In these years, Shelya learned much of the thieves' trade - but she never liked to use these skills for her own gain. It was nessecary to survive and she knew it, but her mother always took opportunities to get more - even if the poor victim found herself on the edge of starvation afterwards.

The conditions under which Shelya grew up made her miserable, and she withdrew socially, becoming a quiet wallflower that shunned contact with most of those who her mother called friends and associates. She did however love to watch the bards sing and dance in the taverns of the city's central parts and the harbour - the best hunting grounds. Shelya always tried to find a reason to stay longer in a tavern or on a crowded place than was safe while doing their dirty craft - but her mother wanted none of it and so the girl had to leave the beauty behind and live in the shadows.

One day she met a travelling elven priest, clad in fine robes and wearing the most extravagant hat she ever saw, a cacophony of colors - she swore to see them change whenever she pulled her eyes away. She was fascinated and did the only thing she knew well - she tried to steal it. But the man was not the typical slow-witted merchant, he had the senses of a cat. He grabbed her hand when she reached for it from the roof of a market stand, and then suddenly pulled her into his arms with an elegant flourish.

"Stealing what one admires is wrong. See the beauty and cherish it, but never take it away or destroy it, girl. A much wiser action would be to study it's shape and making, and to make a copy of the thing oneself - or even improve upon the original design." There was no anger in his voice, and a knowing smile accompanied his speech. Shelyn was trembling from fear - such an agile and strong man could beat her to a pulp or drag her to the authorities with ease. But he did nothing of this sort.

The priest - Alvarim - saw the love of beauty in her eyes and accepted her struggle with what is right - after all not everyone is born into riches and can live the way she liked. He told the girl of Shelyn and her teachings, he even tried to tailor a hat with her - the one on his head was of his own making, as were his clothes. But she proved to have no talents in such things.
They met several times during the two weeks he was in town and awaiting a new client - he specialized as a bodyguard for rich artists - and Alvarim led her to experiment with different art styles so that she might also make beautiful things. Thanks to him she was able to find in herself a great aptitude for the brush, and she very swiftly learned the basic painting techniques he taught her. He also made her try out different musical instruments, and to her astonishment she had quite the gift for music. Surprisingly, her own voice proved to be the one she most easily learned to control. She would have never thaugt herselft to be able of producing such loving melodies and songs.
When Alvarim finally left Riddleport, he even gave his wonderful hat to her as a gift. "You canot give it to me! It must be worth a fortune, with the magic it contains. And I tried to steal it which was wrong." she said in shame, but Alvarim just laughed it off and told the girl what the hat truly was - just a fancy hat. He had used his own gift for illusion magic to make it more impressive and to bring joy to the people who saw it.
With this last gift, the artistic training he put her through, and a few other well-chosen words, Alvarim sowed the seed of a growing fascination in the girl for all that is beautiful.
She started to talk with travelling bards whenever possible, learning a few tricks here and there, even joining some of them as a singer. Her mother caught on soon enough and wanted to exploit the poor girl's talent - not that she finally had come out of the shell.

Shalya had enough and ran away. She felt pressured by her mother's way of life more and more and this was the final straw. She would sing and dance, but not for money alone. She would do it to bring joy to people!
She joined a group of travelling varisian bards and left the next morning, only taking with her what was necessary - but also Alvarim's hat.

After almost a year of country-festivals and tavern music, they came upon a small temple of Shelyn that was in search of helping hands - some of the clergy was killed when they defended the village against a goblin raid. Shalya chose to leave her friends and stay, studying Shelyn's ways and hoping to atone for the sins she commited under her mother's rule. There she stayed another year, learning the healer's craft and even discovering a hidden power in her to stop the most grievous wounds with a mere touch. Shelyn must have bestowed upon her a miniscule divine spark and she felt truly happy.
When the head priest had found a replacement, he suggested to her leaving the temple in favor of a life on the road once again. He was very vocal in persuading her to embark on this journey - seeing in her much potential to bring joy to people and ease their suffering, but more than this he saw in her a person that wanted to protect and help more directly than she was able to here. She protested at first, citing her many sinful acts in the past, but the man ensured her that it was important who she is and who she will be - not what person she once was or a need for atonement she burdened herself with.

And so Shalya went southwards to Magnimar, where she joined the Pathfinder Society!