Elise Greymount

~ 10 Bitter Frost Moon, 1424 AL
~ 53 Years Old

Married at seventeen to a tragically and equally as young King Ronan, Elise had not lived much of her life before she was thrown into the middle of kingdom politics. But she quickly found that she thrived in such an environment.

Before Percival usurped his father, Elise was the light and life of Castle Tirav. She was passionate about her duties and her hobbies, as well as a considerate and fair queen. Now, on the run with her husband and her daughter, that light has dimmed. Elise longs to save her son, but cannot fathom betraying the family she has sided with for the past ten years.

Physical Description

Average height for a human and undoubtedly the shortest member of the family - oh how she longs for the days when her children were still smaller than her. She is slim, the figure of a graceful lady who hasn’t swung a sword or done a day of hard labour in her life, and her ashen grey skin tone may trick one into thinking that Elise is constantly ill.

One should not be fooled by her appearance though. Her figure belies the true strength hidden beneath and her skin tone is a result of her deathtrance magic.

Queen Elise looks exactly the same as you remember.

Her hair is, somehow, still styled in a ridiculously fancy fashion, though you notice that fiery red colour beginning to fade near the roots. Her face is still smooth. Not a single wrinkle more than she had ten years ago, which seems strange to you. I would have thought the stress of… all of this would have gotten to her.

There is something off though. The Elise you remember had a brightness to her; where Ronan was a storm raging through the castle, Elise was the sun shining through the clouds. Now, her expression is… darker. The smile she sends your way is not quite as vibrant as you expected it to be and, if you look closely, it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.

It is a shocking contrast to the Elise you once new. You falter, failing to return the smile as you would have long ago.

Elise has a soft, oval face, that is deceptively smooth and almost free of wrinkles (except for the crows feet at the corners of her eyes) despite her age. Her lips are plump and a modest red. She has a dusting of freckles over her cheeks and neck.

Class

Deathtrance Arcanist

Ethnicity

Yondarish

Birthplace

Tiraven

Gender

Female

Eyes

Dark green

Hair

Light red, long and tied back in a single braid

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Ashen grey

Height

5'5"

Family

Randolph Callow - Father
Beatrix Callow - Mother
Owain Callow - Brother
Ronan Greymount - Husband
Percival Greymount - Son
Alexandra Greymount - Daughter

Personal History

Born to Lord Randolph Callow and Lady Beatrix Callow, Elise was already a part of the upper classes long before she married into royalty. She and her twin brother, Owain, were given a proper education involving the basic lessons that would be taught at any school, as well as lessons only available to lords and ladies of Yondar. Proper etiquette was drilled into them from a young age.

Owain would always be her first and best friend. After all, the twins were practically inseparable; where one went, the other would quickly follow, regardless of whether it was a class or to play with other friends. It meant that in their younger years a lot of their friend groups overlapped. Beyond her brother, Elise would call the young ladies Amalia and Nola, and the young lord Kaspar, her closest friends and confidantes.

When she was twelve, she discovered that she had the ability to use deathtrance magic. Her brother was jealous up until he discovered his own deathtrance abilities two weeks later. Their parents hired a deathtrance arcanist - one of the best in Yondar - to teach Elise and Owain how to use their magic properly.

As the last in a long line of Callows, neither of them had much pressure placed on them during their childhoods. Elise could have lived until her late twenties without marrying if she had so desired. She knew that neither she nor her brother would inherit the majority of the Callow’s fortune, so she could go about her life almost as merrily and freely as a member of the middle class would.

All that would change when news of King Garren Greymount’s death broke.

Her mother, a friend of Prince Anders Greymount, arranged for Elise and the newly appointed King Ronan Greymount to be wed. At first, Elise was apprehensive of the arrangement. She had enjoyed the freedom blessed to her up until that point in her life, but she knew that a marriage to the king would thrust her into the spotlight. She was also worried that she wouldn’t even like Ronan, or perhaps that he wouldn’t like her.

To our beloved citizens of Yondar.

King Ronan Greymount is to be wed to Lady Elise Callow on the eve of the second, under the Dusk Soar Moon. To celebrate such a joyous occasion, official festivals will be held on the second and third in the following cities:

• Brightfeld
• Camerford
• Eassie
• Grensie
• New Stonewalk
• Tiraven
• South Rovayne

We encourage you to travel and join in the festivities. Where travel is not possible, we encourage our citizens to organise a celebration in their own town or village. Drink, feast, be merry, but please continue to act within the boundaries of the law. Though we celebrate the occasion, we do not wish to cause our honourable watchmen more trouble than they usually encounter.

An announcement notice from 1442 AL, preserved by the Moonglow Archivists

So she agreed to the ordeal, albeit tentatively. They were given a few months of courtship - a chance, her mother informed her, to back out if she so desired - but the precaution was not necessary. Elise and Ronan hit it off immediately, though Elise was still wary of the quick marriage, she was far more amicable to it after getting to know Ronan over those few months.

After the wedding - an exhausting affair, between the celebrations and the months of travel - Elise and Ronan grew closer. Though Elise was given no room to rest when she was back at Castle Tirav. She was given more lessons from strict royal tutors on a range of topics, from kingdom politics to social etiquette to war strategy. Though strenuous, Elise adapted well.

Beyond that castle life was quite a social one. She attended extravagant balls, mostly hosted by lords and ladies that had barely spoken to her when she was still Lady Callow. Though she would not come to call these lords and ladies friends. On the contrary, she was more inclined to befriend the castle staff, such as her personal servants and a handful of guards. Her closest friends throughout her adult life would be her brother, Captain Jennah Avarice, Miss Alvy Ashewell, and Miss Marlis Bain.

After Percival’s birth, her attendance at such parties decreased slightly. The royal servants insisted that they take on the burden of looking after the prince, such was custom for the royal family of Yondar, but Elise refused to just stand aside and watch as someone else looked after her son. She was very involved with his childhood and took a very hands on approach, as she would later do with Alexandra as well.

When Ronan announced that Percival would no longer be next in line for the throne Elise responded with anger. She spent months being angry with him, begging him to tell her why he thought Percival wasn’t fit for the throne, but she never received a real answer. Ronan would always avoid answering the question. It led her to confide in Jenna, who shared her concerns but could not act against her king. Eventually the anger subsided, but it resulted in Elise spending far more time with Percival than Alexandra, trying to calm her son down and dissuade him from doing anything rash.