I am where I am meant to be.
D
espite her young age, especially when considering her
Elven heritage, Strawberry is a girl of no fear. She lives in the village of
Margay with a local couple that owns the town tavern. Strawberry herself spends almost all of her time at the stables tending the horses or talking to any animals that she comes across in the village. She has an inherent talent for handling any blade put in her hands; but she would rather avoid fighting if possible.
Family
Since as far back as she can remember, Strawberry has been raised by the
Human couple Englebertha Gridz and Mervin Gridz. Englebertha runs Margay's Tavern and Inn,
The Tiny Cat, and is the captain of the village watch. Mervin, is an old, cantankerous fisherman that only smiles when agitating his wife or when he thinks no one is around while carving little figurines out of wood that he leaves around for the town's children to find. Neither Strawberry nor the feisty couple know Strawberry's biological family.
The Story of Strawberry
Mervin Gridz had been fishing the same waters outside of the small village of Margay his entire life. The most exciting thing to ever happen on his fishing trips was the occasional stubborn fish smacking him around a bit while trying to escape the boat. But one night, on the first day of spring, Mervin spotted something on the water he had never seen before. A small boat the size of a clothing trunk was floating peacefully towards him. It had a small wooden canopy on one end with two little lanterns hanging off the corners. Mervin carefully pulled along side the tiny boat and carefully pulled it into his own. Upon closer inspection the lanterns was just 2 glowing crystals tied with some ribbon. Inside the boat Mervin saw several bundles of Elven silks of varying sizes. The largest sighed slightly as if breathing as Mervin carefully unwrapped it. As he pulled back the first bit of silk, he was surprised by a tiny sleeping face of an elven baby. He made his way back to shore as fast as he could and took the tiny boat back to the tavern where his wife would be waiting. He ushered her into the bedroom and showed her what he had found. His wife, Englebertha, immediately scooped up the baby and began rocking and cooing at it as it slept peacefully. With the child in the boat was a decorated sword, small fur blankets, and a note written in Elvish. As Mervin stared at the note, the letters began to fade away and re-appear in Common.
The Letter:
The couple had no children of their own, but had always wanted a child. They immediately and lovingly took on the role of Strawberry's parents; leaving her without a last name to honor her Mother.
While the beginning of Strawberry's life may have been exciting. The years to come, were pretty quiet. For the first few years Strawberry never spoke. She followed instructions and was a happy child but she never said a word. Her adoptive parents thought she was mute as nothing they did made her even babble. When she was five, while playing with a little wooden ball Mervin made her in her parents bedroom, she accidentally rolled it under the bed. While trying to find her ball she came across a bundle of silk. Shortly after she wandered into the kitchen holding the sword that she was found with. Englebertha was busy washing dishes when Strawberry suddenly said "I found my mother's sword. I am going to keep it in my room now." Englebertha was surprised, scared and confused. In her state of shock she could only nod. From that day forward, Strawberry still didn't say much but when she did, it was often as if she spoke with the knowledge of someone much older than herself. Strawberry continued to grow and spend most of her time taking care of the stable horses often falling asleep in the hay next to them when tired. While she had no training with her sword, she found she knew precisely how to use it as if she had trained a lifetime. There was not much need for a sword in Margay however, she loved to pretend and knew if she ever needed it she was ready.
On what she considered her 13th Birthday, Strawberry snuck out to the stables early to tell the horses all about her big plans for the day. She told them about the cake she would eat and the gifts she would get and how she would be sure to bring them fruit later. As she took the time to brush each horse until it shined in the rising sun, a small breeze blew across the town of Margay. As she was finishing brushing the last horse, she heard the sound of hooves approaching fast. She looked up and saw a plain brown horse galloping towards her as a half hunched figure appeared to barely hold on. Strawberry stepped out and stopped the horse calming it down without a single word. As she reached out to the rider the rider slid off the horse and collapsed on the ground. She quickly ushered the horse into an empty stall and grabbed her parents. The rider was a
Half-Elven girl, whom she later learned was named
Vadania Siannodel. Once Inside, Englebertha and Strawberry nursed the young woman to health and after hearing she had no where to go asked her to stay with them. Strawberry immediately took to Vadania saying her mother told her to be her friend. Strawberry now calls her Dania and considers her a sister and valued companion.
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