Lumi Willow

Deep in the shroud of the Lower Forest resides a small coven. The people there some call witches, some call savages, but they themselves call guardians. They spend their years safeguarding the sanctity and balance of nature, calling upon the vines and trees to weave and morph, turning around intruders and calling upon fierce illusions to frighten anyone who happened too close to the heart. The elves of the Emerald Grove were masters of natural magic.
All save for poor Lumi.
For as long as she can remember, Lumi lacked the innate magical prowess her brothers and sisters seemed to share. Some blamed the fact she was not truly one of them, being found under a willow tree by her mentor, Elora, as an infant. Others whispered it was because she did not truly revere the forest, and instead harbored some terrible darkness within her heart and nature itself could sense it.
Ever stubborn and determined, Lumi ignored their whispers and instead focused on what she was good at; alchemy. Though Lumi could not sing a flower into bloom like her sister Thalia, nor could she call upon a raging storm to deter intruders as Dain, she could break the fiercest of fevers using only what the forest had provided them and cure the most severe illnesses in a matter of hours.
Tending for the sick for years gave Lumi a sense of duty and care. If someone was ill, even if they had spread the rumors calling Lumi an outsider, she still took care of them to the best of her ability.
Such a tender heart is why she had led outsiders to the heart of the grove.
While she was out gathering the medicinal herbs and roots for her craft, she ran into an adventuring party, outsiders reeking of iron and steel, trampling the sacred forest. They had been fleeing from a battle, a difficult one if Lumi had to judge by the blood staining their armor and clothes.
Lumi dropped everything she had been doing to tend to these adventurers, wrapping the worst of the wounds and administering what few potions she had brought with her.
As she worked, they spoke of their troubles. A town, just outside the forest, was plagued by nightly sieges from a war band of orcs. Every night they came to raid the town, clashing with the small militia and banging upon the gates. As the militia’s number dwindled, the town called for aid, and many adventurers answered their plea.
The injured party was scouting the orc’s war camp just inside the woods, and nearly lost their lives for it. They found that though many men answered the call, they would be no match for an all out assault with the numbers they saw.
Hearing their story and their pain, Lumi decided the High Priestess must hear of this, and that her family could help. What match would a war band be against the wrath of nature herself if her kin called it to action?
So, trudging through the illusions her coven had set to deter outsiders such as these, Lumi led them to the heart of the grove. Already sensing the intrusion of outsiders, her family had gathered in shock and confusion, the High Priestess at the center of it all as she waited in silence.
She waited patiently as Lumi introduced the adventurers and let them tell their story. Lumi begged the Priestess to let them help only to be met with outraged cries from her kin.
The priestess answered simply.
“No. We are guardians of this forest, not the men of that village. Should the orcs destroy the village and move on, it is of not our concern so long as they do not cross into our territory.”
Heartbroken and defeated, Lumi was ordered to lead the adventurers back out, and the outsiders were warned that stepping foot into these woods again would mean death. And so she left the group at the edge of the woods, and offered them her sincerest apologies and hopes that they would emerge victorious.
That night, back home in the heart of the grove was the loneliest night of Lumi’s life. Though she was forgiven and allowed to remain in the coven, the rest of her kin had shunned her, outraged and resentful for her foolish actions.
All night she tried to busy herself with her work, but as the night came and went, she heard a commotion early in the morning.
Cutting through the peaceful silence of dawn was the cracking of trees and the smell of smoke. As she rushed out into the clearing, she saw one of the adventurers waving her gnarled staff and tearing a path to the heart of the grove with lightning bolts. Lumi’s family scrambled to action, dodging the raging magic and readying their own spells, though the grove grew silent when she halted her ramage and planted her staff into the dirt.
She was injured, worse than before, blood soaking her tattered robes and her face smudged with dirt and soot. She called out, voice hoarse and cracking, proclaiming that the village had fallen and her comrades slain. The High Priestess stared stone faced as the wizard recounted the final battle, how it played out exactly as her party had foretold.
“Just as you were blind to the suffering of my comrades,” she hissed as she raised her staff, “so too shall you be blind to the rest of the world.”
The guardians of the coven lept into action the moment they felt the first twinge of magic in the air. Just as the arrows were loosed, the wizard slammed her staff upon the ground. Her rage had fueled her spell so greatly, that though the priestess had cast a ward, it tore through the protective magic, raging across the grove with its vile green energy.
The light of the magic faded and the wizard fell, and the coven was left in stunned silence. Everyone seemed to be tensely awaiting the effects.
But they did not appear so quickly.
Slowly as the days passed, the elders of the coven began to complain of poor eyesight. The guardians’ best shots could now barely hit the target with their arrows. As time went on, dark veins slowly appeared around the afflicted’s eyes. Eventually, the darkness would grow and cover their eyes, leaving them unable to see. As the first few fell completely blind and more and more of the coven began to lose clarity in their eyes, they pieced together the curse.
Lumi worked alongside her mentor, day and night, desperate to find a cure or a way to break the curse. The best spellweavers could not shake the vile magic, and Lumi’s potions seemed to be as effective as watered down tea in reversing the effects.
As the numbers of the blind grew and panic arose, they began to blame the obvious cause. If Lumi hadn’t led them to the grove in the first place, none of this would have happened. Her informal shunning had turned into an all out exile. The sick refused to see her, instead calling Elora to their homes to take care of them, and wherever Lumi went, the area quickly cleared.
After months of ceaseless work, Elora fell blind and Lumi began to see the beginnings of the dark magic around her eyes. At the edge of losing all hope, Lumi had an idea; if the curse was outsider magic, maybe only outsider magic could cure it.
Who knew what kind of magic and potions those outside the grove had come up with? She already heard whispers of something called necromancy that outsiders had allegedly created. Perhaps there was something they had made to specifically reverse outsider curses.
No one had ever left the grove. Many had taken an oath to protect it, and fiercely held to their words, believing that to leave the grove would mean leaving it defenseless. Lumi had taken the oath as well, but she knew that to protect and save her home, she had to venture out into the world.
She knew she must do whatever it takes to save her family.
And so, without so much as a word to anyone, even her beloved mentor, Lumi packed her satchel with what she deemed important and set out in the dead of night, only the full moon illuminating her path out of the forest.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Her experiences at the Wild Hunt woke Lumi up to the world around her, and so she left behind the naive, overly caring nature she held onto for so long in order to survive and is now willing to do whatever it takes to achieve her goals, whether it be founding a guild to expand her contacts, or siding with less than virtuous characters. As she grew to become conniving and cunning, Lumi began to use her appearance as a woodsy, new-to-the-world elf as a way to lower guards and escape suspicion.

She is growing more and more desperate as time goes on and the curse takes hold of her sight, and is willing to take more and more drastic actions, often working in the shadows with the Talons.

Ethnicity

Tiefling Culture

Family

Clan of the Wondering Crows

Quotes & Catchphrases

Here in the forest; dark and deep; I offer you eternal sleep

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