Tyriana – Blade of Faith

Horauthin was all that Tyriana knew as one constant in her life. Her parents both were devout members of his church in Greypeak, her father a paladin and her mother a priestess. Tyriana from a young age was brought up to revere Horauthin, and she truly loved the One-Armed Divine as he were her own father and protector. When her parents were both lost to Blood-Lung, she was moved to be with relatives in the Elven City of Aluvitar in Belfrie. Things in Belfrie were stark contrasts to her harsher life in Greypeak, where her elven kin were a rarity and constant battles were fought against Goliaths, marauders and tribesmen. There she felt purpose, slaying her first man when she was barely beginning to mature. Each kill she made had her feel closer to Horauthin, for she killed for justice, honour and to protect the weak.

Aluvitar had no such conflict. The city was peaceful, crime was minimal and no beasts nor marauders roamed the nearby lands save for scarce trolls or goblins wandering too far from their homes in the mountains. This was a life she could not hold. Giving sincere farewells to her family, she sailed to the hostile land of Sudd Tohst, considering it a self-driven pilgrimage. There she offered her guarding services for free to those travelling the perilous bandit-infested roads, asking simply for food and water to sate her in travels. She slew many gnolls, bandits and opposing mercenaries in her time, impressing one particular merchant she guarded so much that he offered her a job under his company full time.

Though she would think that blood spilled for coin would be sullied, she reluctantly took the offer, realising the church could not provide for her in Sudd Tohst as it did for her parents in Greypeak. She was sent on one of the merchant’s slave caravans to Zandoriel, where the gathered Tabaxi slaves to be brought back to Sudd Tohst. The years there taught her much, as she mingled with the local Dragonborn of the kingdom and learn of methods of battle and combat that even Horauthin’s church had not taught her. The Tabaxi made formidable foes in their raids, though the Dragonborn slavers had learnt how to best combat their agile speeds and ferocious, relentless attacks. When finally Tyriana’s contract had ended, she spent her boat trip home with a Dragonborn noble, teaching him the ways of Horauthin and the cultures of Tharador. When they arrived in Velandria together, they signed on with the Golden Griffins together as war engulfed Belfrie and the two felt they had to do their part as peacekeeping mercenaries.