Ravagella

Ravagella is a half-elf bard in The Faultless Arrow.

Childhood
Ravagella was born on a large sailing boat in the Wailing Sea to a human father and elven mother. Both of her parents were musicians with comedic acts and would regularly board fancy boats in the Oaken Sea to entertain the rich and noble, who were usually by no means classy. Ravagella was always dragged along, since small child-bards typically drew in more tips. From an early age, Ravagella had admired and worshipped Olidammara for his trickery and independence. Eventually, she grew a habit of stealing shiny trinkets and coins late at night from incapacitated partiers and revelers, a habit that stays with her today (though she wouldn't admit it).

From Sea to Land
Growing up on a large sailing boat with two entertainer parents meant Ravagella met many strangers who came aboard to eat, drink, play loud music and practice their acts. Too many experiences with drunk and bawdy strangers at such a young age was too much for Ravagella on the party-boat she called home, though she met occasional pleasant folk who shared their varied and worldly knowledge. She began to withdraw, feeling her lifestyle was a waste of time when she could have had a more formal education (which never happened). Her favorite topic was ancient languages, though she also enjoyed astronomy and made a map of the stars during her rare times of peace and quiet at night.

One night, after a long night of entertaining a large group of nobility, she saw an opportunity for escape and stowed away in between kegs on a lower deck of their ship and waited until it arrived in Oringrad. Having never been on land, she hopped off the boat and slowly and awkwardly made her way around the city at dawn, searching for a friendly face or an inviting building, settling with the Shaking Horse Tavern. There, she met a bard who made extra money as a server in the mornings. Only very good bards lived solely off their acts in the capital city and many had second jobs due to the competition. They told their stories through song (as is usual for bards meeting for the first time), and he swore not to tell anyone her story as she didn't want to be found by her parents. So he gave her a map of the Kingdom of Rubia, describing the various areas he had visited.

Ravagella resolved to settle in a landlocked areafar away from any boats and chose Silverhill as it was, at the time, a peaceful town. She made her way down the long road by stowing away in traveling carts at night, stealing food, and entertaining and charming folk. After many years as a custom mapmaker and entertainer at the local bars in Silverhill and the neighboring towns, she realized something was missing in her life and she grew restless. Travel and adventure were in her bones, no matter how much she had tried to deny it, but she had to do things on her own terms. Her faith wasn't as strong in Olidammara as it was when she was young, but she was still somewhat drawn to what he represented.

Joining The Faultless Arrow
Ravagella wasn't sure if she was ready to adventure with other people after hearing the call for help in her town. She was initially hesitant to speak to Chad as she found him bossy and quite stupid in the local tavern. However, she was convinced by Haereldor (who she deemed very reasonable) that he had a lot of potential and would be a faithful sort-of bodyguard. She packed her instruments and thus, the Faultless Arrow began.