Occupation: Ranger adventurer with some added bard flavor
Personality: Whim seems to be afraid of everything. He can burst into tears for seemingly no reason and will do so constantly. This and his crippling anxiety exhaust him, but he probably won't mention it and will just continue on. He's fragile, sad, and scared. Very reluctant to trust, yet naive at the same time
Physical Description: Short, maybe 5'4". Pale tan skin and vibrant brown hair. Bright green eyes with slit pupils. Slim eyebrows and a rounded face with a weak jawline. Long, pointed ears in typical elf fashion. Hesitant posture. Makes an effort to take up as little space as possible.
History: Whim never knew his parents, but theoretically, they were some of the greatest hunters and warriors The Nest had seen for a long time. They obtained a place of high honor in society, which is why it was such a disappointment when they disappeared. Even more salt in the wound was Whim. He was the couple's only son and absolutely nothing like them. Granted, he was only a few years old when his parents vanished, but he had already well established himself as the most skittish and shy child in the city. Without any guardians, he was given to his grandparents who couldn't be less happy to have him. They treated him as if he was the biggest burden the world could have bestowed on them and were abusive both mentally and physically. Stifled by this emotional shock, Whim did not improve. His mood grew worse and he became afraid of nearly everything and everyone, as the world seemed like a cruel and uncaring place to him. His grandparents attempted to keep him locked away at home at all times so that he couldn't embarrass them, but he often attempted to sneak out for as long as possible. Once out, he'd try to do thing that the normal Elven children would do...play and socialize and learn. Yet, he was ridiculed at every turn. He was just too far away from his parents' starting point to be taken seriously. Thus, he fell behind and couldn't quite force himself to learn all that he should, which led to him feeling even more dissatisfied with himself than he already was. He became an incredibly scared, naive, and foolish adult, which everyone seemed all too eager to remind him of. He couldn't read, write, shoot a bow, track, cook much of anything... In his more recent years, he became suicidal, but, of course, was much too frightened to do anything about it. Left hanging in emotional nowhere, he had no idea what to do with himself. It seemed he only existed to be others' punching bag

One season, a couple trading ships docked at the Harthwoods. A few of the Elves that had grown up around Whim and were raised to dislike him came up with a plan to get rid of him. They pretended to be kind and friendly towards him, spending the day trying to get him out of his shell. While Whim was still as skittish and scared as ever, he was baffled by this change in tune and was none the wiser to the bigger picture. The Elves invited him to track down something to hunt where they said they'd help teach him how to follow the clues animals left behind. There was no real animal they were tracking, but as Whim was so uneducated, he had no idea. He was led towards the shore where the boats sat in view, mostly unattended as the traders were in town selling their wares. The Elves feigned shock and proclaimed the boats "evil". They told Whim that if he climbed up and stole their valuables back to give them to their rightful owners, he'd surely be a hero. He was terrified of such an idea, so much so that the other Elves eventually grew weary of trying to persuade him and left him there. It took hours for him to decide, the prize of his reputation turning around ending up being too great for him to leave it behind. At this time, more people had returned to the ships and were getting ready to leave (though Whim didn't know). Despite his lack of training, he managed to pull himself onto the deck and quickly slipped through a door leading deeper into the boat. He was unsure what exactly he was looking for, so his search wasn't fruitful. He became spooked by the sound of sailors moving around and hid in a small corner, tucked away behind crates and sacks. There he stayed and shook for what felt like forever, but the voices just wouldn't die down.

Several days passed, during which Whim had to scavenge his hiding place for scraps to eat. Eventually, though, the ship grew mostly quiet. Cramped from being curled up in his tiny hiding place for so long, he crept out onto the deck only to be met with horror. The land he was looking out at was not the Harthwoods. As he never really learned about the world he lived in, he had absolutely no idea what this strange place was. In his shock, he didn't realize that some remaining crew members had spotted him. They drew weapons and aimed to corner him, but Whim surprised them by leaping off the side of the ship and fleeing in pure terror. He ran as far as he could until he could no longer see the boats on the horizon, but then he really didn't know where he was. Lost and near sick with fear, he wandered aimlessly until night fell, finding nothing that could help him in that span of time. With nothing to his name other than the clothes on his back, he was an easy target for the cobold slavers who had been watching him meander about unbeknownst to him. Once he wearily collapsed, exhausted from stress and abnormal exertion, they made their move and captured him.

Whim, they quickly discovered, was absolutely useless as a slave. Whenever a cobold would approach him, weapons or no, he would scream and panic, attempting to escape until he grew too tired to do so anymore. They quickly came to the conclusion that he was noisy and weak. Despite being beaten, he could hardly lift the heavy tools needed to operate the cobolds' mine and would eventually collapse into a trembling pile as if accepting his fate. Too busy to plan what to do with him, the beasts caged him up and shoved him away into a corner to deal with later. There, Whim nearly starved to death, as he was forgotten about. He was only narrowly saved by the other slaves revolting, which he was too weak and hazy to even be aware of. They nearly missed him, all tucked away, but the other slaves mentioned that they'd heard him crying over there before and so the little nook was checked out. He was carried to a nearby camp of adventurers (where most of the newly freed slaves went, as it was the closest form of settlement) where he was nursed partially back to health. Once he was able to move around again, the encampment of adventurers recommended the obvious: he should consider taking up a weapon and adventuring too! Whim was petrified at the idea, especially considering what he'd been through, but the only other option seemed to be to go to a city and resume being useless (except he would be homeless this time, as he had no money). As lost as ever, he found himself surrounded by much more capable people, a bow in his hands and expectations on his shoulders...

Details: (Quirks, hobbies, peeves, etc...)▎
Songs: /•
Ship Songs: /
Extra: Originally a Wood Elf ranger from EverQuest back in the day