Sophie Wright's page

Step 1 - 5 Concept Elements:
1. Enjoys the quiet life - While some might consider losing her parents as a baby to be tragic, Sophie actually had a very happy childhood. She was raised by her grandparents, who were nothing but loving and attentive. Growing up in the inn they own, she has never wanted for anything and would be perfectly content to peacefully live out the rest of her life as an innkeeper.
2. Accommodating and affable - Sophie began helping out around the inn at a very young age, as she had natural talent for customer service. Though her appearance is quite plain and she does not have a forceful personality, her helpful and personable nature gives her a quiet charm.
3. Talented Cook - While Sophie does enjoy helping at the front desk or chatting with locals in the inn's tavern, she found her true calling in the kitchen. She joined trained at the local culinary guild as soon as she was old enough and has been the lead chef at the inn ever since she became a full guild member a few years ago.
4. Magical Outbursts - In the last year, Sophie's peaceful life at the inn has come crashing down. She began have small outbursts of magical power. At first she just tried to control it on her own, since she figured a having some magical ability wasn't a big deal. However, her attempts to use magic intentionally failed miserably and instead just caused the uncontrolled outbursts to get worse. Scared, she hid it for as long as possible, until a particularly bad outburst nearly burned the inn's kitchen down. After explaining everything to her grandparents, they have contacted a town wizard to train her. They have also, kindly, but firmly told her she needs to step down from working at the inn until her magic is under control.
5. Needs Real Magical Experience - Sophie has spent the last few months training with Daumantus Taika, a local wizard. He has been able to offer some help, teaching her a few magical tricks that she uses for practice. He also gave her a crystal that helps her focus her magic, allowing her to cast magic somewhat intentionally. However, sometimes her spells still go awry. He has explained to her that her powers don't work like his do. Since her magic is driven by her own emotions, study and practice will only get her so far. She needs to push herself out of her comfort zone and learn boundaries of her own potential. His recommendation is that she gets some real world experience using her magic. This idea terrifies Sophie, but she wants to get back to her kitchen and she has run out of other options. Taika has also told her that the spiral birthmark on her stomach is the Sign of the Seeker’s Spiral, a rune associated with the secret society known as the Riftwardens. He thinks she should investigate that if she wants to learn more about her powers. Recruitment signs to join the crusading army are everywhere that you look in Sophie’s village, which is only a few days travel from Kenebras. So joining the army seemed like the most logical choice. What good is an inn anyway, if the demons invade? However, she still has her doubts that taking her volatile brand of magic to the front lines is anything other than a bad idea.

Step 2 - Character Goal/Player Goal
Character's Goal - Sophie just wants to get her magic in check, so that she can forget about it entirely and return to working in the inn. Ultimately, she wants to take over ownership of the inn once her grandparents are too old to keep working.
Player's Goal - Sophie needs to gain confidence and control in her magic. Right now she sees her magic as a bad and dangerous thing. However, with time she may see that she has a great gift that could be used to help people. Also, travelling to the worldwound will hopefully reveal to her some of her past and help her to understand why she is the way that she is.

Step 3 - Secret Known/Secret Unknown
Known - Sophie has never been a particularly secretive person, but she is ashamed of her magical outbursts. As such, she tries to hide her abilities from people for as long as possible. Her grandparents, teacher and a few coworkers are the only ones who have know about her powers, though there has been some gossip around town about the fire in the kitchen and Sophie not working there any more. While Taika has convinced her to join the crusading army in Kenebras, she is worried that she will be liability. So, instead of selling herself as a mage, she has portrayed herself as crossbow user. Of course, in the stress of battle it is unlikely she will be able to keep her magic contained.
Unknown - Her grandparents are not actually biologically related to her. She was rescued from near the worldwound by a group of adventurers when she was only a baby and given to the innkeepers to raise. Her real family is unknown, but presumed to either have been killed by the demons and aberrations in the area. The innkeepers were not told exactly where she came from, just that it was somewhere bad. They in turn told Sophie that her parents were travelling merchants that were killed by bandits. The wizard they contacted to teach her magic is actually one of the adventurers who saved her. After some research he has determined that the strange spiral birthmark that he saw on Sophie’s stomach as a baby is the Sign of the Seeker’s Spiral. He is not sure what planar energies infected Sophie as a child, but he is sure that the answers lie in the Worldwound...especially since the crystal necklace that helps her control her magic was looted from a cultist lair near the Worldwound where Sophie was found.

Step 4 - Connections (2 Friendly/1 Hostile)
The Grandparents: Humphrey and Winifred Wright were never able to have children of their own, so they were more than happy to take in Sophie as a baby. They made up a story about a son and elven daughter-in-law, which most people in town didn't question. There are a few older folk in town who are pretty sure the Wright's never had a son. But, beyond the occasional gossip that infidelity may have been involved, most have kept the information to themselves out of respect for the well liked innkeepers.

The Wizard: Daumantus Taika was an adventurer for many years before he finally retired in the same place he had left a child all those years ago. Though, he never introduced himself to Sophie, he would occasionally stop by the inn and keep an eye on her from a distance. He had largely forgotten about the young woman until the Wright's came to him desperately looking for help reigning in her magic. Realizing he had grown complacent, he leapt into training the young woman. He has been a faithful tutor, though Sophie often gets overwhelmed by his teaching methods.

The Cult: The cult Sophie was rescued from still exists. Though they have not put much effort into hunting her down, they do still consider both her and the crystal necklace she wears to be stolen property. If they found her, they would want both back.

Step 5 - 3 Quirks/Mannerisms
1. She always looks surprised when her spells work. She never seems confident when casting, even if she is only casting a simple cantrip.
2. Daumantus taught her several Prestidigitation tricks to help control her magic. She practices them almost obsessively.
3. She is very soft spoken and very rarely raises her voice out of anger. However, she easily gets stressed and panicky in tense situations.