Kind hearted and deeply altruistic, these very qualities earned Selja the favour a fae as a child. However, because his connection to the fae was seen as scary by most, Selja became ostracised in his community and ended up developing a much better understanding of the fae social rules than those of his fellow men. Due to the fondness the fae have with verbal trickery, Selja himself is very careful of what he says and may appear as overly polite and formal as a result. Understanding other humans doesn’t come naturally to him, and Selja spends much of his energy trying to decode people’s intentions based on their words, expression and body language. 

There is a touch of melancholy in his nature that makes him go back into his shell easily when faced with emotional conflict of any kind, but his yearning to connect with others is still undeniable: he tries to initiate conversations, frequents places with plenty of people around and has sincere compassion towards other living beings, man and beast alike. As a knight and a hunter he respects all life deeply, and much prefers a peaceful solution over killing beasts or using his sword to speak for himself. He always keeps the promises he makes, and takes his honour, duty and reputation as a knight seriously even outside of his duties. 

HAIR: Wavy, soft, long, very light blond with almost ashy white colour
EYES: Unnaturally pale blue, lack shine, pupils are also light 
EYELASHES: Long and curved
NOSE: Average size, slightly upturned
LIPS: Full, dark but not deeply vibrant in color
SCARS: Top surgery scars on chest, miscellaneous little scars on feet, arms and back
BODY TYPE: Mesomorph, appears very soft when his muscles are relaxed
CONSTITUTION: Friendly, calm, a little eerie at times
OTHER: Darker orange skin tone around cheeks and nose

Selja’s eyes appear unnaturally light and faded to others, to the point many mistakenly assume that he’s blind. His original eye colour was deep blue, but upon receiving the fae’s blessing they took a lighter appearance — and granted him the ability to see things others don’t.

Summary: Blessed by a fae for his altruism when he was a child, what was meant to be a great gift ended up causing Selja to become alienated from his fellow humans. Facing further ostrication for his gender identity, Selja made the decision to move far away from his childhood home and become a wandering knight. Now a full fledged knight with no king or a lord as his master, Selja travels to make a living by helping people with problems requiring a swordsman.

♱ EARLY CHILDHOOD ♱

Born as the youngest child, Selja grew up with his mother, father and older sister. Though there was no prestige for their family name to claim, Selja’s parents were renowned tailors with many wealthy clients. Unlike his sister, however, Selja showed little interest in the art of tailoring: he’d explore the nearby woods instead, curious about its invisible inhabitants and the many streams and ponds he could play in. He was a curious, energetic child but simultaneously very polite and careful; quick to discover new things but rarely the one to get into trouble for it. He had a small group of other children he often played with, though he wasn’t particularly close to them beyond seeing them as playmates. 

He received a fairly good early education thanks to his parent’s lucrative job, but wasn’t particularly gifted or even interested in the world of academics: he enjoyed learning, but didn’t enjoy the atmosphere of schools or the teaching methods to acquire that information. 

♱ FAERIE’S BLESSING ♱

Selja had always been cautious while walking in the woods, taught from an early age to respect the forest and those living in it — after all, the spirits cared little whether one was a child or an adult if they had done something to anger them. Likewise he had been advised to not try to speak to any faerie that would come his way: if he fell for their clever words of trickery, there was a chance the fae would claim him and spirit him away; forever away from his family and friends. 

However, Selja had likewise been taught to be polite and help those in need, and when he was twelve he met an old woman in the woods. Hunched over and walking with an old gnarly cane, her other hand was occupied by a large basket full of apples and Selja could see she was struggling with both of her hands full. He politely approached her and asked if he could help, to which the woman responded by thanking him and giving him the basket to carry. They talked as Selja escorted her to her destination, and though he was careful not to reveal too much information about himself, he found the old woman very kind and pleasant to talk to. 

Upon reaching the other side of the forest, the woman thanked Selja once more and requested to get her basket back. Confused as to where she was going from there, Selja inquired about her destination — only for the old woman to change shape and reveal herself to be a faerie. She had been observing Selja ever since he set his foot in the forest for the first time, and had since been touched by the kindness he displayed towards the forest and its animals: he had never taken anything more from the forest than he had needed, respected its inhabitants and even aided animals caught in cruel hunter traps despite being warned against it by his parents. 

While the fae expressed desire to take Selja with her into her own realm, she instead wished to give Selja a very special gift: the ability to walk through magical barriers as well as to see through disguises and perceive spirits usually invisible to the human eye. As a result of this blessing, his deep blue eyes turned light, creating a visible mark that he had been blessed by a faerie. 

♱ OSTRACIZATION ♱

Selja’s behaviour would visibly change after he received his blessing: he would often stare at seemingly nothing for long periods of time, wander off without saying anything, get lost in his thoughts and sometimes — when he didn’t think others were around — he could be heard having conversations with no-one in sight. Between feeling jealous towards his skills and doubting whether he was blessed in the first place, children and adults alike would start avoiding him and excluding him from their games, meetings and gatherings. His parents never said it out loud to him, but Selja could sometimes sense a fear in their demeanour when they approached him. 

As a result of this new loneliness, Selja would spend more and more time observing and conversing with the beings only he was able to see. From the point of view of his invisible acquaintances Selja was by all means a very sociable and tactful young man, but from the perspective of his fellow humans he was strange and introverted; lost in his own world and not the one to initiate a conversation. They didn’t seem to — or even want to — understand him nor the particular way he conducted himself because of the fae social rules. 

When Selja told his parents about the feelings regarding his gender, the two accepted him but never seemed particularly happy about it: they thought it was the doing of the fae, having somehow influenced his thinking. Nevertheless, they likewise feared they’d anger the fae if they were to mistreat Selja or doubt him in any way. 

♱ KNIGHTHOOD ♱

Nearing his adulthood, Selja had no intentions of inheriting his parents’ tailoring business nor was he enthusiastic about staying in his hometown. He packed up the little he wished to keep and left for a big city in the hopes of becoming a knight: throughout his youth, the spirits of the forest had been teaching him ways to defend himself (and his fae benefactors), and Selja saw a fine future in becoming a wandering knight and roaming through the country to protect others from beasts and various other threats. 

While he had never been a squire and thus had no formal knight training, he was able to find himself a mentor after running into an independent knight at a local inn. With his unique fighting style, Selja was able to convince his mentor to teach him and studied under him for five years. He was accepted into the knight’s guild upon demonstrating his skills in battle and began his independent life as a wandering knight. After this he’d do various jobs ranging from hunting to tracking down wanted criminals for a living, staying in inns until guided elsewhere by his duties. 

♱ CURRENTLY ♱

Caught in a sudden pouring rain, Selja finds himself at the steps of a large tower asking for a place to stay. He quickly learns the master of the tower is a lindworm, and though he intends on making his stay a short one, he finds himself allured by the dragon and curious about how he ended up in the tower — and why he has the upper body of a human.

• Thanks to the fae’s blessing, Selja can see through magical disguises and illusions, as well as perceive beings usually invisible to the human eye. Likewise he can travel through most magically crafted restriction barriers, though he himself can’t even sense they’re there in the first place.
  
  
• Knows the basics of sewing and can fix simple things like adding back a button or patching up minor tears in clothes. He carries a tiny sewing skit with him wherever he goes, thinking a sewing kit is as essential as medicine and food are.
  
  
• His calm and gentle demeanour makes him well liked by animals. He’s particularly good at handling horses thanks to having first-hand experience with them.
  
  
• Physically strong as a result of his profession being so physically demanding. He uses a large sword as his main weapon, though makes for an alright archer as well.
  
  
• Can imitate various bird calls, a skill he learned as a child by mimicking the birds he heard in the forest.

• His name means elderberry in Finnish.
  
  
• When Selja first received his blessing, many thought of him as a fae changeling. While he was later proven to be his parents’ biological human child, people still believed the fae had somehow changed him as a person — not realising it was them who drove Selja to seek frequent contact with the fae in the first place after treating him poorly.
  
  
• Selja got his horse as a present from his mentor while he was still his protege. He was involved with the horse’s upbringing from its birth, and as a result was able to train the horse to fit his exact needs. Selja loves his horse a lot and loves braiding its hair.
  
  
• Wandering knights in Selja’s setting refer to knights with no particular master to serve and who travel from place to place in search of work befitting a knight. Wandering knights are very respected among commoners and they typically receive discounts at inns and are requested to do deeds directly without the knight needing to always search for it themselves. However, this also means that individual knights always have a reputation to keep, and the generosity knights are given can be taken away just as quickly if deemed unworthy of it.