Born in the small town of Villebramar to the south of Drasier, the capital of the Etherien Republic, Snapping Branch was born to a loving Tabaxi family. The town was under the supervision of a noble family called the Niphgar, who kept a strict eye on the mostly Tabaxi town, ensuring that they paid their taxes and, more importantly, supplied the family with quality wine, their symbol status.
 
Snap swiftly grew into a swift-footed, quick-witted Tabaxi. Her black fur had a beautiful sheen, and she enjoyed playing outside in the sun-drenched vineyards of Etherien. However, an outbreak of Summer Pox, followed by a harsh winter, lead to the death of both of her parents - she was scarred as in their final days the fur began to fall from their body as she tried to comfort them. She remembers very little from her childhood except this horrifying image of her parents dying.
 
She, as an orphan, was left to herself, but she found a symbol of hope in the goddess of redemption, Emrys, and found herself praying to the Fawn in her darkest moments. Because of her perceived piety, hanging around the small church to Emrys in her town, she was after a few weeks reluctantly taken in by its head priest, Father Lecocq, and given a role aiding in their service. She was 11 years old at the time.
 
Father Lecocq, and with him the other priests, treated Snap with disdain - they claimed that she needed to be redeemed for her lesser existence, that she needed to prove that she was worthy of the love and devotion of their goddess. Where there was in Snap a feeling of pride and love, it was slowly replaced with a deep shame of herself, and a feeling that she needed to prove herself to be worth as much as every other life. She felt great appreciation and amazement at other lives, and always treated them as greater than herself.
 
As she grew older, her Tabaxi curiosity began to kick in, and she started asking if she could leave the building and go outside. The other priests didn't let her, however, and this led to much supressed desire to see the world. Sometimes people would come into the church, and she would ask them questions about the world outside, about her town, about her people, but also about faraway lands that needed exploring. Wide-eyed, the young girl's thirst for adventure grew.
 
One day, a young black-scaled dragonborn entered the church. She spoke to him, and found he came from a land far far away, a land he described as consisting of islands almost floating on the mist of the seas. He named himself Tarek, and every day he came back he would dazzle her with amazing stories and information. For about a month, he came every day, until he explained he had to go back. Both were sad that they needed to part, but she vowed to come visit him one day on his home islands.
 
Almost a year later, something unexpected happened. Snap was awoken from her sleep by strange noises in the church, and found that the priests she had grown to know were being thrown out. She hid under her bed for a few hours, until everyone had left the building, before truly realizing what had happened. The church had been shut down - father Lecocq and the other priests were nowhere to be seen. Confused and scared, she left the building and looked around her to see a world she had never gotten to explore, but she felt no gladness, only fear. Her isolation had made her fear the unknown.
 
After a few days of wondering through Villebramar, a town she hardly recognized, she saw a familiar face, that of a dragonborn she had seen before. His clothes were different, and his wide-brimmed hat was clearly meant to hide his dragonborn features, but he recognized him nonetheless. She ran up to him excitedly, and he seemed just as happily surprised to see her as she did. The fear inside her thawed, and a feeling of purpose came in its place. With Tarek at her side, she could do what she had always wanted to. She could explore the world. She thanked the Fawn for this purpose that she had given her. They spent the day together, eating in a small tavern and discussing what had happened in their lives. Tarek was acting mysterious about some matters, but she didn't care and just listened to his tales.
 
That night, as the two of them slept in a small tavern in town, she woke up from a tap on her window. Sleepily, she walked up to it, but was surprised by a short robed man standing in her room. In a gruff voice, he explained to her that the man she had spent the day with yesterday was very important. Tarekivien Crultel was, unbeknownst to him, the son of a very important noble on Vindarthak. This particular noble would pay very well for someone to keep his son safe, without telling him what he truly was.
 
Initially, she wanted to refuse. Tarek was her friend - she couldn't be trusted to protect him, she didn't want to lie to him, and she certainly didn't want to be paid to do any of that. But at that moment, she swore she could see a deer watching them from the forest out of the window, the symbol of Emrys, and she understood this was her purpose. Watching over her friend, watching over someone with great importance, that's what could redeem her. She doubted whether or not to take the money, but decided that taking it would mean she would be better able to help him. She shook the halfling's hand and accepted the deal, promising to send a letter at the start of each crossing (approx. once a month). The halfling nodded and told her she was greatly appreciated.
 
The next day, she suggested to Tarek to leave this place, to travel far away together - to find the mist-covered isles, the snowy peaks, the deep marshes of Cyrethia. Tarek gladly took her offer, and the two of them set off, their hearts full of hope.
 
They travelled for a long time, almost eight crossings. She saw much in her time travelling the lands, slowly moving northwards, and found herself enraptured by the wonders of nature. She began to train herself to become skilled at traversing these lands, and found it necessary as well as both Tarek and herself weren't exactly the most sociable. Many times, their weird demeanour got them kicked out of small taverns or towns.
 
She saw Tarek learn strange magics, imbibing potions that seemed to hurt him as much as they empowered him, and brewing several strange alchemical fluids that he used for different tasks. She began to learn the language of the beasts around her, and connect to the land, still thanking Emrys for this opportunity at every turn. She accepted the money from her mysterious benefactors with a pang of guilt, knowing that if Tarek every found out he would be confused and angry that she had been lying to him. But he never seemed to notice, appearing completely oblivious.
 
Slowly, their capabilities rose, and their fear for bandits and the like faded away. They helped a small town get rid of an infestation of enormous disease-ridden rats, another tavern needed help taking care of a group of ruffians - with a smile, Snap accepted these requests, eager to help and make those around her happy. She was always careful to show respect to those she defeated, only killing as an absolute last resort.
 
Now, after bonding with a fierce bloodhawk companion, their journey took them into the dangerous Folkmar mountains. Tarek seemed curious to learn what was northwards, and despite the cold Snap agreed to go with him. Travelling slowly through the bitter cold of a late-autumn Folkmar, even Tarek seemed taken aback by how cold it was.