Flor Tabbard

Childhood

Flor Tabbard was born forty five years ago from human parents in the Blackport district.
Blackport is a somewhat isolated farming and fishing community on the borders of the City.

The population's main occupation lies in farming the algae and kelp fields on the northern shores of Lake Onix or venturing on its unpredictable and dark waters to fish.
Others specialise as divers to retrieve a much sought-after kind of kelp, only found at considerable depth, among the ruins of an ancient submerged city.

Flor was born in a family of divers and learned very quickly from her father how to navigate the treacherous waters of the lake.
She had inherited her parents's tall and athletic build and like them, had an unusual capacity to plunge in apne.
Although humans by all accounts, it seems that her father Broom Tabbard and her mother, Felin Sealen Tabbard might have had a common sea elf ancestry.

Both had been born and brough up in Blackport and were sweethearts from an early age. Their parents came from the same Frencalian community and were thrown into the Well for cheating the local laird of his taxes - or so the story goes.
When Felin and Broom's parents landed in the City of the One Prince, they slowly and surely migrated to the district of Blackport who offered them a new start.

Diving is a dangerous business and the Sealen Tabbard skills were soon in high demands. 

Flor was a keen diver and was soon enlisted by her father, Broom to help collect the kelp that sustained his family.
Her mother, Felin, was now busy looking after her young sister, Cardone and little brother, Broomlyn.
Felin was also a very good business woman and developed a far-reaching network of business contacts over the years.
She often cut the middle men and sold the much sought after family produce directly to mages of the Enchanters' Ward and other wealthy clients throughout the City.
This network was going to be of great benefit to Flor when she started her Retrieving business years later.

Formative Years

Flor would have stayed a diver all her life if she had not taken a keen interest in the buildings and artefacts strewn among the kelp fields.
Unlike her father, whose sole interest lied in the vegetation, Flor started to pick up stones and other ornaments from her daily forays into the lake.
Her mother sold them as curios and trinkets on market days, and in so doing, Flor earned a share of the sale from her mother.

Flor struck her first jackpot, aged 14, when she found a small iron casket under a large slab of mable, containing three golden rings each crowned by a large ruby.
The discovery was considerable as iron fetched a mighty barter price within the City markets, and the rings could be sold to the rich ladies of the Shield Knights.
Flor was given half of the profits her mother made on the objects, which was stil a considerable sum for a Blackport fourteen year old. 

Flor thought very much how she was to invest her coins and decided to give herself an education.
Blackport children were not routinely enrolled in the City's schools as they were for the most part needed to help out with the family trade. 
Now, having a choice, Flor decided to travel every day, several miles, morning and night, to attend the nearby school on Black Lake Road.

Happily, Flor was a quick learner and as soon as she was able to read Common devoured all the scrolls at her disposal. She also learned how to write, but her writing skills never amounted to very much, just enought to get by.

She still spent time diving, often by herself as her father had now taken a step back from his dangerous trade, the family flushed with the money from the sale of the casket and the rings.
Meantime, Felin had taken over the reins of the family business by becoming a well sought after trader who specialised into putting Blackport farmers, divers and fishers in contact with lucrative markets throughout the city.

Flor stayed four years in the small City school but developed a strong relationships with her tutors due to a keen mind and a taste for history and sciences in particular.
Her mentor was an eccentric Elven mage by the name of Luthien Mandator, who landed in the city fifty years ago, having been thrown into the Well for having 'failed' the education of one his aristocratic charges.
Luthien was a talented mage and a born teacher. He did not fit in from the start in the rarefied and power-hungry world of the Enchanters' Ward. Luthien preferred his simple but rewarding life as a teacher in the Black Road school.

Luthien became quite fond of Flor and undertook her education, sharing out his deep knowledge of his Elven heritage with her.
He also spotted her natural magical abilities, and helped her to develop some knowledge of spells, especially the healing and defensive ones.

From Retriever to Explorer

Once more, opportunities knocked on Flor's doors. As she grew older, Retrievers' crews from Blackport noticed her worth, and as she reached aldulthood, she was offered a spot in one of the most successful Retriever crew of the City: the Blackport Rovers.

As part of the crew, Flor started to explore the Wastes and over the years, became an expert on the Desolation Belt north of the City walls, running very successful forays into the dangerous landscape.
Her reputation grew and by the age of 25, she organised her own crew.

Leaving the Blackport Rovers was hard, but she, and others from her own generation, had become dissatisfied with the small cut the younger crew members got from the dangerous expeditions into the Wastes.

Despite her relatively young age, Flor knew she had the experience and the skills to set up her own team, a team that would follow her through thick and thin for the next twenty years or more.
As her second, she appointed her chidlhood friend, a bulky half-orc named, Roland Barktree.
Then, through her connections, she acquired the services of a bona fide young mage by the name of Goldie Drinkfoot.
Goldie was a rare kind of witch. She had been brought up within a traditional Gnomish wizzard family and had enjoyed the privileges it entails, spending her childhod and teen years within the confines of the Enchanters' ward.

However, this life was far from enough for Goldie and she dreamed of setting off towards the Firelands red sunset into the Wastelands.
Luthien Mandator was an old friend of the Drinkfoots and it so happens that one fateful day, Flor and Goldie met. It was not long before Goldie joined Flor's team ready to fulfill her life's dream.

To complete the team, Flor hired several young hands from the Livid Wastes, ready to make their marks and escape the district's cycles of poverty: a spirited half-orc named Stringden Blackhand and a pair of female tabaxi twins, just known as Veckie and Moxie.

The young team was successful from the start and were known for their daring forays into the Desolation Belt, ready to stay further and longer into the deadly ruins as any crew had done before them.

This is why, when rumours circulated of a massive metal tower having been spotted in the Belt, Flor made it her life mission to find it and cover herself and her crew with glory and riches.
Through her mother's and Luthien's contacts, she found sponsors for her expedition and set  out to explore the Never Road much further anyone had ever gone before.

The expedition left the City through the Never Gates, and were back within two months. However, one member of the team never made it back.
A month after they left, the crew met a pair of gigantic  gold statues guarding the side of the road. The Golden Knights did not harm anyone but Goldie, who seemed receptive to their magic.
Before they could drag her away from the Knights' threats, Goldie perished in a psychic attack that caused a major hemorrhage in her brain.

Despite the relative success and fame of her expedition, Flor never recovered from Goldie's death.
As she recuperated from her ordeal in the Wastes, she took an interest in her ageing mother's business, and settle down back at home, growing the family business even further.

Flor's fame has not waned within the last ten years, and many young Retriever crews look at her as a model and idol.
Flor and her crew have been the subject of many urban legends. One of them concerns Flor's journal. 

According to hearsay, Flor has kept a meticulous diary of her forays into the Wastes which detail the sites of  traps and dangers, as well as the many interesting buidlings and monuments she encountered along the way.