Venstina Willowmoon

Venstina Willowmoon grew up as all children in Segratia grew up. She was taught about the superiority of the elves and particularly the High Elves. To her all other races were weak, cowardly, immoral, lazy, and crude if not flat out evil. And high elves were pure beings of knowledge and goodness filled with the wisdom of history. It didn't matter that she had never met anyone of another race, it was the truth because her parents and tutors had told her so. The idea of questioning their truth never occurred to her. It wasn't until her Accademiox that her preconceptions would be challenged. The Academiox, or time of testing, is a series of exams and trials administered to a young High Elf to determine their aptitude and future life's path. For a high elf, the Academiox results are absolute. The only way to be given permission to chose your elven true name is to complete the path laid out by the Academiox. Some elves get additional schooling, others begin martial training, some are moved directly into laboring jobs. Venstina wasn't nervous though, she had aced all her prep tests and practice trials, she was going to be placed in the Order of the Medicinal Scientists, she knew it. Biology was her best subject and the idea of working with people, of helping them be well, to give life to them was all she ever wanted.plus her father was a prominent surgeon and her mother a midwife Venstina had assisted both of them in their work, so she was confident no one would be more experienced than her. Her parents however were very nervous. They always seemed nervous when Venstina needed to go outside their secluded property. The night before her testing was to begin she heard them speaking heatedly. She was only able to hear one phrase before being discovered and sent off to her room. Her fathers words swam around in her head all that night "it'll be much harder if they realize, for her and for us." But when she woke up her excitement blocked out everything else. after all she had never been tested by anyone other than her parents or tutors, she had never been to a school, and she had never even socialized with other elves her own age except visiting relatives. So she was going to suck up this experience as much as she could. Before she left her mother Placed a nit cap over her short bobbed hair and balanced a pair of blue glass spectacles on her nose and admonished her not to take them off because it was cold and bright out. It was true Segratia had very harsh winters and Venstina never was comfortable in the bright sunlight. So she agreed to her mothers edict and off they went to Spellwind College. Upon arrival Venstina was immediately whisked away from them and brought to begin her testing, as expected she breezed through the tests. Page after page. subject after subject. Biology, chemistry, anatomy, geography, math, elementalism, divination as soon as the questions were asked she would answer. The next day was physicality challenges and though her strength wasn't the best and her hands trembled a bit in her dexterity trial she still made it through with fewer errors than most others being tested. And on the last day she showed her true worth by maintaining absolute focus and concentration while being faced with distractions that included fire, wind, noise, and decomposing corpses. She was most proud of the final trial, being the only one of her testing group to not vomit when asked to dissect a cadaver. with her trials done she was given time to relax while the decisions were made. The days had grown warmer so as she walked across the campus to meet with her waiting parents she unthinkingly pulled off her cap exposing the blue hair shocked with white streaks. Her mother shouted for her: "STOP, No No No". Venstina looked around seeing a number of other students staring at her grumbling under their breath. She looked away and tugged the hat back on her head. When she got to her parents she was confused and asked what that was about, They told her that her hair was different and sometimes people don't like different. This wasn't a satisfying answer but she was summoned to find out her results before she could delve further. Once in the giant open exam room now completely empty but for a chair for her and a long table with 5 examiners behind it she felt the weight of this situation. She began to shake all over. The examiners spoke to her kindly. "you have been examined and you have been judged superior. Your education shall be continued , you have shown great aptitude for the biological sciences. You will be placed within the order of medicinal scientists. and upon your graduation you shall take your true name as Dr Venstina Nodelama. But for now Venstina Willowmoon congratulations." Venstina was so excited she jumped out of her seat and rushed to the table to shake their hands or hug them or jump for joy she wasn't sure which really. But as she approached she lost her footing and went sprawling at the foot of the table and her glasses went sliding under the table to their feet. As Venstina stood up laughing at herself and dusting off, her Pale almost white lilac colored eyes, which had seemed much darker behind the colored glass, met the head examiner's. She gasped out one word: "Drow". all the other examiners pushed back from the table as if trying to escape a wild beast. Venstina had never heard that word before, Drow, and she begged them to explain. Calmed a bit by Venstina's confusion the head examiner pulled off her hat, nodded gravely, and said: "I'm sorry but I must speak with your parents" and she led her out. Venstina waited outside the chamber for more than an hour during which time she occasionally heard raised voices from within. When her parents finally emerged she asked if she had done anything wrong. Her parents told her they had done wrong by not telling her the truth. They went on to explain that a distant ancestor of their family had been a Drow, or a Dark Elf, but since all of the family had looked like high elves they had always pretended their bloodline was pure, at least until she had been born with lilac eyes and white streaks in her hair very obvious traits of a dark elf. they went on to explain that Drow are considered to be evil by nature and that no one would trust a healer who was a Drow, so her invitation to join the Order of Medicinal Scientists had been withdrawn. But that because of her fantastic performance on her Academox she would still be allowed to study at Spellwind College, but as a sage and upon graduation gain her true elven name. Disappointed by resolved Venstina did enroll in Spellwind College but the experience was not pleasant. Her heritage was literally written across her face and no elf wanted to have anything to do with her, Over the following dozen years Venstina studied arcane texts and histories. She tried to be the best librarian she could but all her studies kept leading her to one conclusion, High Elves weren't as pure and good as they thought themselves to be. Her daily interaction with her fellow Scholars reinforced this. She was the constant but of jokes and pranks, but worst of all no one would talk to her. She had hated her parents for keeping her hidden but now she understood why. One day as she was gathering herbs in the woods for the Alchemy Classes she was accosted by a group of elves wearing masks. She was stripped of her school robes, beaten nearly to death and tied to a tree. Where they bleached her hair and painted her skin gray saying: "now you look like a proper Drow. Don't come back half-caste" Venstina was found by a half-orc cleric living in a secret abby devoted to the elven god Corellon. He took her back to the abby where she was ministered to and cared for. The priests and Clerics were very friendly to her despite her "Half-Drow" nature explaining that if their god Corellon could chose a cleric from among his enemies, the Orcs, then they could look past the skin to see the person underneath. Over the next few weeks Venstina would return to the abby every chance she got. Her interactions with these people of every race, hidden here in the purist kingdom so they could have a greater connection to their elven god, began to open her eyes that what she had been taught about the world was propaganda. The priests discovered her ability to channel divinity was very open, meaning she was predisposed to becoming a Cleric. She began to study with the Half-Orc, Sheld, learning as much as he could teach her. For the next two years She spent as little time as she could get away with at Spellwind College and as much as possible with her friends at the Abby. Then one night she had a vision granted by Pholtus, another god of light like Corellon, The god of Justice asked her: "What would you give to be accepted. Are you the only one? Beware their intolerance." Venstina didn't know what to do with this so she did nothing and a few months later when she arrived in the hidden grove that the abby sat in she found it burning. Bastions of the college alongside city guards were standing around watching it burn. She could see none of her friends and feared the worst. She blamed herself realizing the warning Pholtus had sent her, if she had acted this might have been averted. she resolved that it was her mission to make her people realize that other races were valuable and able to contribute. She would put a stop to violence and hatred while trying to bring races together wherever she could. The first thing she would do would be to integrate her school. For months she tried to muster support. But people still avoided her and no matter what evidence she presented everyone in the college preferred to believe their superiority over others which unfortunatly for Venstina included her. Her opponents suggested she leave Segratia and take up residence in Initia or one of the other heathen lands where the lower races mix like mongrel dogs. Her graduation was coming, soon she would receive her true Elvish name where she would be permitted to call herself by the elvish translation of her common name. At conception a minor curse is laid on every elvish child in Segratia. The curse prevents them from saying their name in elvish until their name is written in the book of Permitance on their True Name day. Prior to that their name is only spoken in common. Venstina devised a plan, a demonstration that couldn't be ignored or dismissed. Durning the ceremony as she went to the book and prepared to write her name she stopped and told the crowd she was proud of her common name and found it beautiful that it was accessible to everyone that their common names were symbols that the elves and other races could have similarities without working against each other. Once she finished making her point instead of writing her name she placed her hand on the book and used a cleric spell to set her hands on fire burning the book to ash in a symbolic gesture of defiance, She announced: "My True name is Willlowmoon" what she didn't realize was that the one book contained every true elven name in Segratia and destroying it reapplied the curse to everyone. No one could say their name. When the people at the ceremony realized this word spread fast and a mob formed to chase down Venstina. Afraid for her life Venstina ran. Everywhere she went she noticed tongue tied elves unable to say their names. Eventually she made her way to the Airship landing and hid in the cargo. When she fell asleep Pholtus was in her dream and said: "that isn't exactly what I had in mind" Venstina glared at him Wryly. "The path of the High Elves of Segratia is now forever changed because of you. You are now a person of infamy, but should you be able to make a name for yourself in the world you can turn that infamy into influence I see several paths for your people but two shine brighter than most one where your example leads them into a new dawn and another where your failures lead them to a dark purpose. Your path has begun do not fear your fate..." When the airship docked in Northald at the ports of Riven she decided she would go to Initia and see what it was like to live and work with other races. After all preaching community was one thing but living community was something entirely different. She boarded a ship called the Flying Dutchment on route to Thawl-Anon in Inita...