Ruth Bonivell

NOTE: this is my fan character set in the League of Legends universe, created to be an NPC of sorts for stories I write with Twisted Fate and Graves.

Backstory

Ruth was born in Meltridge, Demacia, and was raised there by her father, Juliad. Juliad was the owner of The Sleepy Willow, a popular tavern and inn in Meltidge. Ruth’s mother, Sylena, was a pirate captain from Bilgewater, so Ruth didn’t see her very often. When her mother would return from a venture out at sea, she’d stay in Demacia with them for a month at most before leaving again. Sylena’s stories about Bilgewater always piqued Ruth’s interest, and it became a dream of hers to visit.

One day, Ruth was in luck. When she was a young teenager, her mother invited them to live in Bilgewater. Although Sylena lived out at sea, they would be closer to her, and thus she could see them more often. Her father was hesitant, knowing the region was the exact opposite of Demacia. He and Ruth would stick out like sore thumbs, and he worried about how dangerous it would be. Sylena insisted, and with pleading from Ruth, Juliad relented.

They moved to the Watchtower District, the nicest area of Bilgewater. Ruth’s mother bought them a nice home, and a new bar for Juliad. With the riches Sylena found and plundered out at sea, she would regularly fund the bar to help while she was away. Juliad wanted to retain the name “The Sleepy Willow,” but Sylena advised against it as it wouldn’t fit Bilgewater at all, and likely wouldn’t get any business. He reluctantly named it Bonivell’s, and allowed Ruth to help as a barmaid. Through Ruth’s teen years, she worked for her father and grew accustomed to her new home. She sustained the kind, polite personality her father raised her to have, but adopted some manners more appropriate for Bilgewater: the tendency to swear like a sailor, the ability to resort to violence (the inability to would get you killed in a place like that), and the penchant for drunken, rowdy fun. She became more like a mix of her parents, not just her father.

When Ruth grew into her late teens, nearing her twenties, Sylena tried encouraging her to become a pirate. While the idea was intriguing to Ruth, she didn’t like the idea of being at sea for extended periods of time, nor the idea of being away from her father for that long. She would miss him, and she knew he would worry endlessly. She was used to being away from her mother for months, but not her father. Since she was born, she was always around him. She declined her mother’s offer, instead continuing to help her father at Bonivell’s.

Another day in Bilgewater, another murder. This time, however, the victim was Juliad. The killer was unknown, some believing it to just be a normal, random killing, and some suspecting the Bloodharbor Ripper. Ruth was in her early twenties when she discovered her father’s body in the streets of Watchtower. Her mother had shown up that day to help give Juliad a burial at sea. At the end of the funeral, Sylena gave Ruth a chest of Serpents, Krakens, and gold, more than Ruth had ever seen. Sylena apologized for the death of her father, and Ruth found it strange how personal of an apology it had sounded. After telling Ruth she loved her, she said a final goodbye before leaving on her ship. Ruth never saw or heard from her again.

Ruth took over Bonivell’s from that day forward. Through her friend Malcolm Graves, who was part of a small pirate crew captained by his friend Tobias at the time, she learned what happened to her father. Her mother had allegedly stolen riches from a rival captain, and they killed Juliad as a warning. The riches in question had been the chest Sylena had given to her. Fortunately, the Bloodharber Ripper had slain the captain before they could find out that Ruth now had possession of it. For years, Ruth was glad her mother disappeared.

To this day, Ruth runs her father’s bar. Over the years with the fortune her mother left her and the own income she makes, she’s hired some barmaids, accumulated a larger variety of liquor, and improved the interior. It’s become one of the most popular and nicest bars in the region, at least as nice as a bar in Bilgewater can get. In addition to bartending, she keeps herself busy helping out Twisted Fate and Graves when they need it. This includes giving them tip-offs, aiding them in jobs, or just providing them with drinks and good company.

Appearance

Ruth has tan skin, brown eyes, a beauty mark to the left of her mouth, and greyish-black hair. There are two small parallel scars through her right eyebrow. She usually wears bright red lipstick and dark eyeshadow. She always has gold and silver earrings on both ears, and a gold locket around her neck. Her hair is always decorated with beaded and cuffed braids, and tied back into a high ponytail with a dull red cloth. She wears a white shirt with long puffy sleeves and most of the top buttons undone to help with the Bilgewater heat. Her corset vest is dull green with gold accents. Like almost everyone in town, she wears a brown leather belt. Hooked on is a sheath for her cutlass. Wrapped around her waist underneath her belt is a dull red cloth matching the one tying her hair back. She wears a puffy ruffled purple skirt with a gold trim along the bottom. She also wears dull striped blue and gold tights, heeled ankle boots, and brown leather fingerless gloves.

Personality

Ruth is known as being motherly to just about anybody, whether they're a good friend or just a customer at her bar. Although she's sweet, she'll whip out her cutlass and use it if necessary. Being a bartender, she's naturally curious and nosy. She's always ready to have fun, making her a perfect drinking buddy.

Trivia

• No one knows what's in her locket
• Good friends with Twisted Fate and Graves
  • One of very few people that knew them before Graves was sent to the Locker
• Has always wanted to go to Shurima
• Loves to call people "honey"
• Never leaves the house without properly decorating her hair with braids and beads
• Owns a young wharf rat named Rex (after the infamous Riptide Rex) that she found as an abandoned pup in the rafters of her bar