Faye Cherie Baker

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Faye was born to a family of farmers just outside the city of Lowell in the March of Delarin, the youngest of four. Being the only girl, she grew up spending most of her time with her brothers, especially the eldest, and learning to work the fields as they did. Due to their proximity to the border of Lorinth and Kersaig, every man, woman, and child learned how to hunt the wolves that crossed over into their lands. Determined to prove her worth, she trained hard to become one of the best of the Daughters of Idara, to protect her family. When she was eight years old, her eldest brother was called to the border. He returned nearly six years later, having been more than successful in his time there. The youngest brother, always looking for an easy way to fame and glory, listened to the stories of the border guards eagerly and took to the road a few months after his brother’s return. It was a long time later that the family found out that he had disappeared not a week after being posted as a guard. He went out after a wolf alone and never returned, and thus he was assumed to be dead. Shortly after her sixteenth birthday, Faye’s mother took her to the nearby city and found an apprenticeship for her with the baker, a kind man with two children of his own. Early on in her time there, she would often care for his children when the shop became too busy and she and the children would be more harm than help. It was around this time that she discovered that she was quite good at caring for the little ones and was the best at calming them down or making them smile with a soft lullaby or a silly song. She made a few attempts as well to catch the eyes of some of the wealthier artisans and merchants there, knowing that the better off she was, the easier the burden on her family and the greater likelihood that she would have a chance to raise a family of her own. Within five years, she had completed her apprenticeship and took on duties baking for several inns throughout the city. As she walked between them, she often watched players and performers who traveled through on their way south, either to Kersaig or Saoirse. One minstrel in particular caught her attention, a young man with a voice so beautiful that a crowd stood silent around him, enthralled. He sang many different songs, from stories of love and beautiful queens who inspire even thieves to loyalty to songs of war and suffering at the hands of others. When he stopped for a time to rest, she went up to him and asked if he would teach her a few of his songs from other lands. Surprised as he was, the minstrel complied. Seeing in her natural skill that she did not know she had, he gave her a small, leather-bound book that contained the songs she wished for and more. When she began to refuse, he told her that the book had been given to him by another performer long ago when she had seen his talent and had instructed him to do the same for another. As the baker had taught her to read and write, she was able to learn each song one by one and hummed them softly to herself as she worked. Overhearing her one day, the innkeeper of one of the smallest of the inns in the city hired her to perform in the evenings. Hart’s Haven was an inn well known for providing a hot meal and a bed for very little in exchange for entertainment, which many performers were happy to provide. Taking advantage of the number of musicians who passed through, Faye was able to learn to play the guitar and recorder, as well as a few other instruments. She soon became known throughout the city and earned the inn many new customers. Visitors named her the White Hart, for both her tendency to wear boy’s clothes and that she and her music were as enchanting as the creature who shared the name. Though she knew she was doing well for herself there, she began to long for an opportunity to see the places that she sang of. So it was that she took her few belongings and her savings and took to the road, heading toward Kenin and the border of Saoirse. Collecting songs and stories as she went, she traveled throughout Lorinth, becoming a well known singer, even to the nobility. She sang to make a living, but also for the simple joy of it, bringing smiles and laughter to even the most weary of souls along her road. However, the more praise she received, the more she reveled in it, until she lost all true purpose, only looking for fame and recognition for her efforts. Constant travel and her sense of pride made it hard to make friends and winter caught her unawares. She had been heading through the western part of Archen, back to Delarin, but it was several days between towns and the cold and snow were coming on fast. With no shelter to speak of, she grew ill and slowly lost all ability to speak. The final blow came when a blizzard hit, making her lose all sense of direction on the road. Losing feeling in her hands and feet, she stumbled her way a little farther and collapsed, unconscious, in the snow. When she awoke, she was wrapped up snugly in blankets next to a small fire. A young woman sat across from her, watching. Faye found that she was still very weak and could form no words, so she just watched and did her best to recover. The woman cared for her and spoke occasionally in the silence, telling her that what she did was foolish and that it was lucky she was there to help. When Faye thought the woman wasn’t looking, she would spend time studying her. One of the things she noticed was that her arm was made of bone and metal, not armored as she had first thought. After a few days, Faye was recovered enough to travel. The woman brought her to the nearest town and left her in the inn there with instructions to take care of herself. Before she left, Faye spoke for the first time since waking up by that fire. She thanked the woman and simply asked for her name. Looking at her with a rather odd expression, the woman told her that her name was Chun Hei, then left. Faye stayed in that town for the rest of the winter, performing at the inn in the evenings and offering her services to help the local baker, determined to recover her voice completely and get well again. When winter ended, Faye began her rounds around Lorinth once more, traveling to every inn and noble’s home that was requested of her. Nearly a year to the day since she found herself unconscious in the snow, she saw the same woman again, traveling on the road toward Pendaren. Chun Hei pulled her aside and asked her to spend the night under a stand of trees close to the road, saying that they needed to talk for a while. It was then that Chun Hei explained that she was a vampire and that she had convinced a semi-conscious Faye to make the blood pact with her that allowed her to save the young bard’s life. At first Faye was unsure if she believed it, having been told that vampires were fairytales her whole life. Then she remembered how in some places of Lorinth, the Kersaig wolves were but a story. Every fairytale has its roots in truth, after all. But Chun Hei offered her a choice. She could let the bond fade this very night and the bard would remember nothing, just that a stranger had saved her from the cold that winter. Or, she could perform the ritual again and have protection of a sort. She would never get sick, or even age, and should she ever be in any real danger, the vampire could help her. Not for the protection, but for the desire to not forget the woman before her, she agreed. So few could see Chun Hei to begin with and it saddened her to see the Yaosai woman alone.

Species

Humans

Sex

Female

Eyes

Stormy grey

Hair

Long, red

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Light tan

Height

5'4"