Zarya - Sun Elf Snake Sorceress

In Hinatali Elven Culture, serpents are seen as markers of wisdom, patience and cunning. They are revered as familiars, and the masters of these serpents are often wise-women of noble houses: those who are able to tame and converse with their serpentine companions, and extract sage wisdom and offerings of advice, which they pass on to their kin. However, such a practice was always held in low regard by Hinatali Humans, who never forsook their own cultural markings of seeing serpents as creatures of deceit, omens of death and devilry. When Hinatal resurfaced, and the racial tensions between Elves and Men reached their boiling point, Zarya and those like her were among the highest priority targets by the Human dissenters. Fleeing with only the clothes on her back and her serpent companion Szavini, Zarya escaped the chaos, slaying any who tried to impede her, whether they were Man or Elf. Northwards she travelled, through the gruelling desert and savannah that surrounded Hinatal and the southern lands of the Dwarven Kingdom of Dornat Al Karit. The final leg of her journey she was unable to complete on her own, as thirst and hunger left her lying in the sand, scorched by the sun. It was here that Szavini saved her, carrying her on to the nearby Dwarven city of Sharprahk, where it left her near its entrance. There a passing merchant found her, offering her water, bringing her into the city and resuscitating her. Hinatali Elves in that time were an even greater rarity than today, as the city had only just re-emerged after centuries beneath the sands. She quickly became the talk of the entire city, and before long, representatives of the World Explorer’s & Hunter’s League approached her, offering her a home, an occupation, and a purpose. Gladly, she accepted, under the conditions they would also grant a home to her companion, Szavini, and treat him as they would treat her. Hesitantly, they accepted these terms, and Zarya since has acted as both a scholar and hunter within the WEHL. The wisdom conjured by Szavini has seldom stirred her or her companions in the WEHL wrong, and her unique history and prior occupation is wholly novel to those in the WEHL, who used Zarya as a primary source to begin their official records of Hinatali history, flora and fauna. With an unparalleled knowledge of her homeland in the WEHL, she has thus stuck around chapters close to Hinatal for much of her tenure, though refuses to return to the city. Whilst she knows that tensions have since simmered, she cannot return to a place where her kin tried to kill her, and she was forced to slay them.