Ardith Briarthorn

Deliverance

Ersa

Backstory: Raised in a relatively well known and powerful military family, known for producing knights for the Watch. She grew up with big dreams but taught the only way to achieve them was through power, so she trained in the art of combat from a young age. Instilled with lessons of violence that her parents learned to survive, she spent her free time dreaming of a life where she didn’t have to be this creature. Her parents were both members of the Watch, a Havilar and a Sword. She grew up admiring them, and unaware of the people that suffered in the lower city. One day, for her training she had to go outside of the gate and gain some real world experience. But her group was ambushed on their way back by cultists in the Lower City, she managed to crawl to the door of a small family home before she passed out. When she awoke her wounds were bandaged. She quickly came to learn that the family she was being taken care of by were once refugees, and came to the gate many generations ago just like her own parents. But where her parents bared their fangs and made the city their own, this family was not so lucky. They lived in squalor and had very little to give but still gave it freely. Inspired and ashamed that they hadn’t done more to help families like this she returned home and swore an oath that very night in a temple before her knighting ceremony. She swore to uphold the tenets of devotion and serve the people as best she could. She served the Watch reliably and well, gaining a good reputation in the upper city, but she felt she wasn’t fulfilling her calling, despite making her family happy. One day, while visiting her friends that had saved her in the lower city and bringing them gifts, she came across a conflict, Flaming Fist fighting with armed civilians. She didn’t know what she could do, but rushed into the fray, armor gleaming, taking the side of the people. After the fact she was dishonorably discharged from the knighthood and cast out of her family. She found herself drinking a lot to cope, and one day stumbled into the temple of Ilmater. There she received help with her hangover, but more importantly she received purpose, the Ilmateri monks there told her that her sect and family may have betrayed her, but her oath never will. She began to regain her spirit, though more mellow and somber after the events of her life. She took up the mantle of a servant of Ilmater and worked in the lower city, healing the sick, fighting for justice, and helping those in need. Finally she felt as though she had a place in the world… and then came the nautiloid.
Storm
