Roe

Childhood

Roe was born during the summer solstice to the matriarch of the sun elf community, Kaisa Aewinys. She was lauded as the golden child of their community. Her birth date was a good omen, and her heritage was even more notable, as she was now next in line for the matriarchy. Growing up, Roe seeked out her mother, longing for a relationship with her. However, Kaisa proved to be nothing but emotionally distant, simply humoring Roe briefly before excusing herself. Roe grew up as a lonely child.

She was given some attention from her grandmother, which she eagerly accepted, but this attention was hardly affection. Her grandmother was more interested in grooming her for the matriarchy, and, oddly enough, to a young Roe, seemingly attempting to scorn Kaisa by being close to Roe. Once, Roe was acting up, and her grandmother showed a side of herself that Roe didn’t know, but her mother was all too familiar with. She hit Roe, chastising her for her uncouth behavior. Kaisa, realizing what happened, tore into her mother. Roe had never seen her mother act so passionately before, especially not on her behalf. Roe tried to reach out to her mother, but Kaisa retreated, with an expression that a young Roe couldn’t possibly begin to understand.

This dynamic didn’t last terribly long, as Roe’s grandmother was nearly a thousand years old, the general lifespan of an elf. Around eight years old, her grandmother fell ill, becoming a husk of who she once was. Roe was stunned by this loss, unable to comprehend it. Kaisa, to her credit, tried to spend more time around Roe. But every attempt at this forced affection was clear for what it was. Forced. Roe didn’t feel comforted, she didn’t feel taken care of, she felt lost and confused. She felt alone.

As her younger years passed, Roe made friends with a young elf boy around her age. His name was Taran, and Roe found him a source of relief from her difficult home life. When Kaisa was entertaining guests, Roe would slip out, seeking out Taran, or sitting by herself in the branches she liked to hide away in. There weren’t many children in the community, as sun elves don’t often bear children due to their long lifespans. She grew up alongside another young elf girl as well, Camellia, but the two didn’t particularly get along well. Camellia viewed Roe as an intellectual rival, and Roe viewed Camellia as a nuisance.

Around sixteen, Roe’s grandmother died. She had practically died when she fell ill eight years ago, but the loss of life was jarring regardless. Roe had never experienced anyone dying, and the shock of it was disorienting to her. Roe had essentially shut herself off emotionally from her mother at this point. She deep down longed for her mother’s love and care, but she knew this was never going to happen, not like how she needed. Regardless, after her grandmother’s death, Kaisa attempted to become ‘closer’ to Roe. She tried to get Roe to join her parties that Kaisa would host, and spend time with her gossiping and having generally a fairly ‘lax’ and ‘friendly’ relationship. Roe wanted nothing to do with it. Her mother’s relationship with sexuality disgusted her, and she felt all too aware of it due to living in the same home with her, despite the notable size.

Around her seventies, Roe claimed her adulthood, something that most elves are only capable of doing around a hundred years of age. During the celebration, Camellia, inebriated, threw herself at Roe, her competitive relationship with Roe revealing itself to be something more. Roe, also drunk, gave in. Her whole life she had reviled sex, seeing it as a weakness and inconvenience. Her mother’s promiscuity did nothing but sully the concept for her. But actually experiencing it for herself… While the sex itself was not very good, Roe felt something awaken in her. The urge to be held and seen. The urge to be selfish, to feel good.

On and off, Roe and Camellia continued to hook up. Roe had no affection for Camellia, but found her to be a convenient means to an end, and was willing enough to use her for this. During this time, Roe started pushing against the boundaries of the sun elf society. She started acting out, rebelling against the status quo. The elves were confused, as far as they could tell, Roe had been a golden child who was content with her lot in life. Kaisa tried to feign ignorance as well, but she knew there was more to it, and Roe was happy to rub it in her face. Kaisa retreated back into her vices again, alcohol and sex, and Roe continued to let herself spiral out of control.

A few times, Roe attempted to run away. Leaving the forest where the sun elves lived was forbidden, unless given explicit permission. She always turned around before ever going far, and no one really knew she was attempting these escapes besides Taran and Kaisa. During one of these attempts, Roe caught her hand in the magical boundary protecting their forest from any prying eyes. The magical thorns ripped into her pinky finger, leaving her with a rather gruesome wound.

Returning home, Roe tried to seek out Kaisa, the grim wound having flustered her enough that she wanted her mother’s love and care, her mind reverting back to that needy child she had been all those decades ago. Kaisa however, was dismissive, unable to bring herself to handle Roe’s desperation, telling her to seek out the healers in their community. Reeling from this, Roe retreated back into her room. Her own mother wouldn’t give her the care she needed. She would never care for her the way Roe needed her to.

In a foolish attempt to punish her mother, Roe let the wound fester. A few weeks after the injury, Roe passed out during a community event that Kaisa had been hosting. When the healers investigated Roe, attempting to figure out what happened, they noticed her right hand, swollen, pulsing with infection and rot. She had been hiding it under lazily wrapped gauze.

When Roe awoke, her hand hurt, but in a different way than she had been suffering with. Inspecting it closer she discovered her pinky finger had been amputated. A grim feeling of detached resolve washed over Roe. A month or so after this Roe left home for good.

Freedom/June

For a good few months, Roe was on top of the world. She would sweep into towns and villages, charm the people there, get what she wanted from them, and then be on her way. However, her luck was soon to run out. One night, camping in the woods by herself, Roe found herself confronted by a tall older tiefling woman with blue skin, wielding a dangerous looking dagger. Roe fell back on her familiar defense, running her mouth. However this didn’t seem to be working, the woman wasn't buying it. In a panic, Roe attempted to fight back against the woman, feeling the fear of death clutch at her heart for the first time since she had been a child, staring down at her grandmother’s corpse. Hearing a horrible popping sound during the tussle, Roe managed to pull herself away and understand her situation. The tiefling woman lay on the forest floor, chest heaving raggedly, dagger sticking out of her belly. Blood was starting to stain the forest floor, and the woman’s glowing eyes burned into Roe as she hurriedly grabbed her own belongings and stumbled away, leaving the woman to her fate.

The next few hours were a blur, Roe hardly even realized what she was doing when she made her way into a little tavern along the road. Making her way to the bar, she waited for the barkeep, hoping to drown out her experience with some alcohol. The relief she felt when the barkeep finally came out to tend to her was quickly replaced with an ice cold fear in the pit of her stomach. The barkeep was another tiefling woman with blue skin, looking undeniably similar to the woman Roe had accidentally gutted. Unable to find an excuse to leave, Roe stayed, wrapped up in this woman’s company, drinking heavily in hopes she could just get herself out of this situation.

Coming to the next day with a horrible hangover, Roe found that she was missing her coinpurse. The blur of the prior night made it impossible for her to figure out what had happened. The barkeep, a motherly looking woman with a kind smile, politely informed her that she had asked to pay the next day, for both the drinks as well as her bed in the tavern. Roe, completely thrown off, did the best she could and supposed she must have been stolen from, asking if there was any other way to repay the woman. The barkeep, giving her a suspiciously pitying look that quickly morphed into one of satisfaction when Roe offered repayment, told her that she could work at the tavern for her, just for a week or two. They were short handed afterall, her sister hadn’t come home from her journey yet, and she was struggling to keep the place running without her. Remembered exactly what she had done and exactly where she was, Roe’s instinct for self preservation made her bend to the woman’s wishes, eagerly taking the opportunity to do a meager week of service and then never have to see this woman again. The woman introduced herself to Roe. She was June.

As days passed, Roe could tell June was becoming more and more antsy. Eventually June decided to bring Roe with her to go search around, and see if they could find any clues about her sister’s whereabouts. Feeling dread chilling her, Roe followed as June meandered her way closer and closer to where Roe had left her sister’s body. When they entered the little clearing that Roe had been camping in, Roe felt her brain short circuit. A trail of blood, leading towards the main road, led out of the clearring. Wordlessly, June followed it. Roe attempted to minimize the situation, suggesting perhaps it was a wounded wolf. But her words died in her throat as they came upon the crumpled corpse of June’s sister, mid crawl, dagger still lodged firmly in her stomach. June didn’t say a word, and Roe stood there, frozen with fear. To Roe’s shock and horror, June grabbed the hilt of the dagger and ripped it from her sister's stomach, an ooze of blood pouring out from the puncture. Leaving her sister’s body, June headed back to the tavern, and Roe had no choice but to follow, stumbling along behind her in dizzy confusion.

I'll add more or just link to a proper google doc of this LOL it's already abhorrently long