Laryna von Sowell

A 28-year-old human girl with noble blood. Very intelligent and skilled in the use of magic from an early age, she is quite a powerful mage despite her youth. Her manners and way of dressing make clear her highborn origin. She isn't very sociable, spending long hours locked up in her room or in the library studying and reading.

She hardly ever shows emotion, however people close to her are able to detect the slight differences in her mood. Although she can be somewhat serious, she can sometimes be seen joking or performing some more childish acts, which look slightly strange with her monotone expression and voice.

She is very straightforward and speaks her mind when necessary, but she doesn't meddle too much in other people's affairs either. She tries to take care of the people in the mercenary guild she works for in her own way, whom she appreciates rather more than her real family. People who newly meet her often think she is quite a bit younger.

Story

Hayrim County, located on the continent of Firia, has been a region ruled by the von Hayrim lineage for generations. It is a highly respected noble house with connections in the upper echelons of the country. Within the von Hayrim, there are other family branches that have less influence among the nobility. Laryna belongs to the von Sowell, one of those secondary lineages. From a young age she received a good education and was taught the necessary etiquette to socialize with other nobles. She was also instructed in the use of magic, for which she showed a distinct talent from an early age. Overall, she was a responsible child who took her studies seriously.

However, Laryna was never too fond of the responsibilities that were attached to being a noble. The meetings, the parties, the formalities... no matter how polite they were and how much they smiled, it all felt fake and empty. Those people only cared about appearances and getting the most out of others. And her parents were no exception, Laryna always felt more like a tool for their interests than a human being they genuinely loved. Her destiny would probably end up being to marry some depraved person who would bring more fortune to her family. The very thought of it sickened her. No matter how much her parents begged her, the young woman was incapable of showing the world a smile if she didn't feel happy inside. In the end, she reached a point where she simply became incapable of expressing any emotion.

But had those been her only problems, Laryna would probably have fulfilled her role as a submissive woman and done her parents' bidding. The real drawback of belonging to the von Hayrim family was the power struggles. Her second uncle, Graham von Hayrim, was the current governor of the county. However, this didn't stop the other branches from trying to usurp power, including hers. They were concerned only with regaining their wealth and honor, showing no qualms about using unethical methods to get their rivals out of the way. Still, none succeeded in removing the von Hayrim from power, who were just as rotten - or even more so - on the inside. Laryna herself was nearly killed on more than one occasion by those who were supposed to share her same blood. That was the turning point for her to change the course of her life with her own hands. When she turned 18, the young woman snatched a good sum of money without her parents' knowledge and left home. Some would call her a coward, she called it survival.

The young woman spent several years traveling the world, relearning to live in a society far removed from the nobility. Her appearance and way of acting didn't exactly go unnoticed among the people, which sometimes attracted undesirable company, but her mastery of magic managed to keep potential miscreants away. She visited the libraries of some major cities, expanding her knowledge in different subjects. In general, it was quite a fruitful few years. And to no one's surprise, at no point did she run into anyone sent by her family. The only ones interested might have been her parents, but she was aware that they considered her a failure of a daughter and that her running away would probably have damaged their reputation more than ever. Rather than wanting her back, it was more likely that they wished her dead.

Eventually, Laryna ran into a bit of a problem... the money she had used so far, the money she had unashamedly stolen from her parents... had practically disappeared completely. She hasn't done much looking for work, so it was only a matter of time before it would be gone. But what could someone like her work at? It was at that moment that she came across a group of mercenaries returning from a mission. Her magic was powerful, the young woman thought, so surely she could manage well there until she gathered some money. The girl approached the group and they agreed to accompany her to their guild. Once in the building, she was able to meet the supposed leader of the mercenaries, an elf named Nordock. The young woman's appearance alone caught his attention, and Laryna had never pretended to hide her origins at any time.

What would initially be only a temporary stay, ended up becoming the mage's new home. Unlike her old place, the people of the guild showed themselves as they really were and helped each other. Due to her talent, the young woman climbed the ranks rather quickly and today she is one of the highest ranking members and one of Nordock's own most trusted people. For the first time in her life, Laryna really felt that she belonged somewhere.