Trista Goodheart's page

Tozur Initiative: [dice]1d20+4[/dice]
Dzae Initiative: [dice]1d20+5[/dice]
Marcellus Initiative: [dice]1d20+2[/dice]
Khun-duhn Initiative: [dice]1d20+2[/dice]
Trista Initiative: [dice]1d20+1[/dice]

She had always been accounted a beautiful girl, even in her youngest days, but only as she approached adolescence did the reason behind her beauty become apparent.

On her 13th birthday, Trista awoke as on any other day. However, as she was brushing her mare after breakfast, the horse startled. Trista looked down and saw a ferret, scampering away after having bit the horse on the ankle. In anger (for she loved her mare more than anything save her parents) she cried "Begone!!". The voice that emerged from her mouth was decidedly different than the one she was accustomed to. Her own voice could still be heard, but it was accompanied by a deeper, more womanlike tone that held a note of command. Two voices had spoken.

Troubled by this, Trista immediately ran in to her mother and recounted the story. The older woman said nothing during Trista's long and confused tale, and when it was over, she merely smiled.

"Daughter," she said, "it's time I told you about your great-grandmother."

She recounted a tale Trista could scarcely have believed under other circumstances - she was descended from an otherworldly creature! But the story made sense of her own experience earlier, and as such she could not discount it. "So," she asked her mother, "I am a Celestial?" Her mother laughed kindly. "No, daughter, you are a human being, or nearly one. Our kind are called aasimar, and we are quite rare. But the blood of the heavens does run in our veins to some degree. Here, I should give you this." Her mother pulled a necklace out of the recesses of her dress and slipped it over Trista's head. It was a simple wooden carving, displaying a phoenix, it's tail curving to nearly touch it's head. "This belonged to your great-grandmother. It is the symbol of Shelyn, beloved of our race. She is the goddess of beauty and love and art, and we hold her dear."

Throughout that night, Trista listened as her mother told her more about The Eternal Rose - most notably of her relationship with her brother, Zon-Kuthon.

"...and to this day, Shelyn wields The Whisperer of Souls, the great glaive of her brother, as testament to her love for him - though the weapon whispers evil thoughts into her mind, the goddess cannot be perverted or enslaved by it."

I want one, thought Trista. It's a simple weapon, really - I'm sure I could make one, in truth.

From that day forward, Trista spent every waking moment reading about Shelyn. She searched for tales of heroes that had done great things in Her name, and was not disappointed to find that there were many indeed. She trained with the glaive; first, with one she made herself, then with a beautiful specimen gifted by her father, who muttered something under his breath about approving of girls as pretty as she learning how to defend themselves. She meditated increasingly often, calling herself into communion with the goddess, and learned in time to see the beauty in all creatures, all things. This served her well, for a few years later she made a startling discovery.

Trista was walking outside the walls of Nybor, deeply in thought, when she chanced upon a smallish figure huddled on the ground, barely breathing. As she rolled the figure over, she was shocked to find that the creature was a goblin! Her initial revulsion was quickly quelled by her practiced mind, though. Goddess, if this be your test, I will pass it, she prayed. She took the goblin home to her father's barn, and watched calmly, smiling gently, when it awoke and clutched at his sword. Eventually, the goblin calmed, and in a few days worth of conversation, Trista had made a fast friend. In this way she met Tozur Grulgok. She found the goblin to be as open a vessel to knowledge as she had ever discovered before; he repeatedly asked for the stories of Shelyn's heroes, and seemed to be altogether concerned with doing good. Trista was convinced that Shelyn had sent Tozur to her as a lesson - good can come in any form, and one should not predispose their thoughts lest it be left unaided. She sheltered Tozur, training with him and ensuring that he had comfortable places to sleep and enough to eat. Eventually, though, the Nybor city watch caught wind of him and drove him off. To this day, she counts among her greatest failures her inability to say goodbye to Tozur.

Just after Trista's nineteenth summer, The Blot appeared over Riddleport. Word quickly spread of the ominous shadow, travelling to Nybor in only a few short days.

This is my chance, thought Trista. This is what the goddess is calling me to do - to thwart this menace and smite those who would destroy that which is beautiful and wholesome. I will not fail. I cannot fail. She took her father's chain shirt (saying a prayer and asking for his forgiveness) and left the next morning at dawn, with very little in her pockets, bound for Riddleport, passing through Roderic's Cove. As she entered the city, she saw a flyer for the Gold Goblin. The sign promised a gambling tournament, and was adorned with drawings of devils leering from the page. Smiling at the name of the establishment and briefly remembering Tozur, her smile quickly disappeared. Devils. This is as good a place to start as any. She turned toward the Gold Goblin, the sun setting on the day, and on her previous life.