Lexia

Played by: Samantha Vold
Name: Lexia
Age: 17
Occupation: Ranger
Relationships: Wilken- little brother. Rauran- friend

My name is Lexia. I have a younger brother whom I recently met up with after 5 years of being apart. His name is Wilken. When I was 12 (Wilken was 11), our parents had begun arguing on and off for several months and mom just couldn’t take it anymore. So, she eventually left. She took me with her, leaving Wilken and dad behind.
After we left, we wandered into a little village about 20 miles south of where we previously had lived. There, I took the opportunity to ask mom where we were going. The only response she gave me was “Far away, honey.” In reality, we never did stray that far from home. I think the farthest we ended up was 30 miles south of that first little village. We only went a total of 50 miles south, all said and done. I think she secretly missed dad, although she would never admit it to me.
But, we made home in one of the rooms of the tavern after mom befriended the hostess there. Rent was cheap, and life was a bit hard. We never really had a lot of money, so mom did a lot of hunting to feed us. When I was old enough, I began working in the tavern as a server and helped the guests that came. All the money I made went directly to our rent though. I never saw any of it myself. But, it made mom happy, so I guess I was happy.
During my free time, mom would teach me and she occasionally took me out hunting with her. I learned archery during those trips and even killed a few meals myself. But, one day, our hunting trip went wrong. We were deep in the forest tracking a deer that had previously wandered through. We stopped to examine some tracks when I heard a rustling in the bushes. I asked mom what it was and she replied saying it was just another animal passing through. We held still for a few moments to see if we could hear anything more or if the animal would come out. When nothing happened, we started moving again. That was when it happened. We were ambushed by four mordok. The skirmish was a bit of a blur to me. Mom told me to climb the nearest tree that I could find and get up high while she fought them off. She took one out with her bow and decapitated another with her sword. I sniped one from my position in the tree, but there was still one left. Mom had been wounded while she was fighting and was running out of energy to keep it up. The last mordok grappled her to the ground and began to tear her apart. I screamed for her and shot an arrow through the mordok’s arm. That didn’t do much, simply slowed him down a bit. I jumped from my spot in the tree and stuck another arrow in his arm. That time I got his attention. He left my mom lying on the ground and turned on me. When he charged, I took aim and stuck my last arrow right through his chest. He ran another few feet towards me and then dropped. I stayed where I was for a few tense moments, just to be sure, then sprinted to my mom’s side. She was still breathing when I reached her, but was losing a lot of blood from a large wound in her side. She looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “There’s nothing you can do to help me, dear. But please, try to find your father and brother. Apologize to your father and tell him I’ve still loved him over these years. And take care of your brother. He needs you now.” I promised her I would follow through with her request and stayed by her side while she took her last breath. When she had gone, I closed her eyes and ran into town as fast as I could. The woman who ran the tavern gathered a group of men to help me carry my mother back to town. The next day we had a small funeral for her and buried her in the town’s graveyard along with her bow and the few arrows we could find. I kept her sword for myself and vowed to avenge her death one day and to help protect others from the mordok as best I could so no else had to go through what I had.
A few weeks later I met Rauran. He had come into the tavern, sat in a corner and challenged anyone that would play to a game. Even with his seemingly arrogant attitude, he kept losing. One gentleman stayed and played several rounds with Rauran and kept winning. Eventually, Rauran got so far into debt that he couldn’t pay up anymore. And there was no hope of doing so soon. A fight then broke out. Several people helped me break the fight up and I threw both Rauran and the other gentleman out.
A few days later, Rauran returned, sneaking back into the tavern. I spotted him sulking in the same corner he had been in the night before, but this time he had no game going. As courtesy dictates, I went over and asked him if I could get him anything. He told me he didn’t have any money to pay me with. But, he looked hungry to me. I gave him a bowl of stew and walked away. When I returned, the bowl was empty and he looked slightly guilty. I picked up the bowl and heard a muttered “Thank you” as I walked away. When I reached the bar and turned around, he had gone.
Later that week, I ran a few errands for the tavern hostess. When I left the market, I found Rauran huddled in an alley-way. I walked over to him and told him I’d pay him a few pieces of silver to carry my bags for me. He accepted and helped me back to the tavern. Upon returning, I offered him another bowl of stew and before I got an answer, went to grab a bowl. We sat down a table and I learned his story.
He had been an orphan for about two years and had a bad streak of gambling and fighting. He made his way from town to town, village to village, in hopes of finding some new people to gamble with and hope no one knew of the debts he had built up over the time he spent in each town. He explained that gambling was the only way he could earn any money for himself. (Although he wasn’t very good at it and kept losing more than he earned.) And then he ended up in this tavern several days ago. Plans were kind of in the works for him to leave town and head out to another within the next day or so. Hearing his story, I took pity on him and left to talk to the hostess. She offered him a job working in the tavern and a room as well. The work would pay off the rent and he would receive one free meal a day. That was enough to keep him in town for a while longer.
Several months passed. Rauran stayed in the village and continued working at the tavern. His gambling streak had lessened dramatically, although he still played a few games every now-and-then. All was going well as we became good friends and my sorrow over my mother’s death lessened. Travelers came in and out and many stories passed through as well. Rumors of mordok on the move would send search parties out into the forest and they’d return sometimes with a trophy, and other times not. Several mordok head were displayed around the tavern as the one who killed it would triumphantly tell his story to all who would listen.
One day, a lone and young traveler came into the tavern. When he pulled the hood of his cloak down, I recognized him instantly. It may have been five years since I had seen him, but it certainly was him. My little brother, Wilken, had somehow made his way to the tiny village. I dropped the dishes I was carrying in disbelief and ran to him, hugging him and rambling about how much I missed him. I’m pretty sure tears sprang into my eyes, I was that excited and overjoyed to see him. But…where was father? Why was he alone?
I ran to the back and grabbed little brother a bowl of stew, sat him down and made him tell me everything that had happened over the five years since I had seen him. Father had taught little brother everything he knew. How to fight, gamble a bit, hunt, read, etc. They spent many days out in the forest tracking animals and training. One day though, that little escapade turned disastrous.
A few weeks ago, they had been out in a meadow and father was teaching little brother some new sword-fighting techniques. But, they were ambushed by some mordok that had been attracted to the sounds of a small skirmish. Father and Wilken fought them off as best they could, but father ended up mortally wounded. Wilken was able to take down the last mordok that father had wounded and after that ran to tend to his wounds. He was able to get father back to the cabin in which they had been living and did his best to help father heal. But, the wound became infected and father fell deathly ill. After several days of fighting a horrendous fever, father passed away, leaving little brother on his own. He buried father near the cabin, took up his sword, and headed out, looking for any and all mordok he could find in his scheme of revenge.
Little brother spent quite a while wandering from little village to little village. He first headed east of where the cabin was and stayed a few nights in a tavern there. Eventually, he made a giant loop and ended up in the village where I was. After his story, I filled him in on what had happened with mother and me. I told him we were now officially orphans, knowing that father was dead. And I offered to let him stay with me then, at least until he was old enough to set out on his own completely. But, he argued. He had heard rumors of a caravan that was headed to Daven’s Reach that had gone missing. He wanted to check it out, so that’s where he was headed. He was just passing through this little village on his way.
Not wanting to let him go right away, I made him stay a week with me and fill me in some on this rumor and everything else that had been going on. He met Rauran and they seemed to get along well, a friendship had begun to form. But, eventually, I had to let him go. He set out for Daven’s Reach, but I had to stay behind. So, I let him leave with a promise that he’d do his best to stay safe. And in return, I gave him a promise that I’d join him in Daven’s Reach sometime soon. I couldn’t leave right away, but after I had just found my brother after five years of not seeing him, I wasn’t about to let him go. So, I made the promise that I’d meet him in Daven’s Reach.
So, that’s where it kind of all started. I invited Rauran to go with me, and we set out from the little village and made our way to Daven’s Reach.