Name: Aina “Possum” Riverhead (last name: Stolthåll) – pronounced “ee-na” & “stolt-hole”
Gender: Woman
Pronouns: she/her
Class: Rogue
Age: 26 approx.
Race: Ulven
Hair: Black
Eyes: Blue
Occupation: Bard
Known skills: collecting songs; writing songs; collecting lore; can reluctantly use a shield.
Birthplace: Riverhead
Appearance: Aina often wears a small scarf in her hair. Her clothing leans towards traditional Ulven cuts and colors, but she likes to collect pieces here and there on her travels; she sometimes wears mismatched clothing or a “pop” of color from colonial fashions.
Bio:
“What they don’t know, won’t hurt them,” Aina repeats to herself often as a refrain, “…and besides, this is for the greater good!”
Aina is a young adult Ulven from former Clan Riverhead. She grew up as one of 5 pups in a highly traditional family, and was raised to revere local warriors and skilled craftsmen alike. Aina showed a strong natural inclination towards music from a young age. Her father taught her the arts of drumming and singing, but the repertoire of songs and techniques felt needlessly limited. She dreaded repetitive practices and her father’s ceaseless lectures about “right ways” and “bad habits that will be difficult to correct later.” Her family didn’t appreciate her toying with the lyrics of traditional folk songs, though they begrudgingly tolerated her offbeat nature. As a teenager, her family nicknamed her “Possum,” noting resentfully that she “takes the bite out of our music,” and this cemented her role as the odd one out in her family.
During this period, interaction between Ulven and Colonists was generally increasing. She found herself energized at the thought of learning new tales and ballads and melodies and instruments from the blend of cultures that landed. Knowing her interest was highly taboo, though, she admired very quietly and from afar.
Unfortunately, her curiosity was superseded by the recurring problem of Mordok in the area. She had been raised with some basic fighting proficiencies, though she was never remarkable in this skill. She had a strong sense of allegiance to her clan and to her family, as good Ulven do, despite the silent clashing of her disposition with theirs. She put her all into the defense of Riverhead, yet it fell when she was around age 20. She and her family retreated to Clan Goldenfield.
After the evacuation, Aina’s family only doubled down on their staunch beliefs about Ulven pride and the urgent need to rebuild Clan Riverhead. Tension rang through the air on a daily basis. She decided around age 23 to leave home and become a travel bard, promising her family that she’d spread Ulven music and send money home as much as she could, in the name of rebuilding Riverhead.
She has been traveling across Mardrun for the past 3 years, collecting songs and lore from all peoples. She takes great pride in the preservation of these cultural snippets, regardless of their origin; this was a bastardization of her family’s values, and she kept the diversity of her repertoire a “soft” secret from them (for they simply never asked…). She sings songs in several styles, covering topics of Mardrun, Faedrun, and the general suffering of our shared condition. She reclaimed her nickname “Possum” as an informal stage name, used from time to time in friendly company.
Her hopes are to keep raising money for Riverhead, to help healthy Ulven efforts wherever she can, and to continue collecting treasures for her Bard book.