Belia Alil
Belia Alil (a.k.a. Beli)
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Belia grew up in the Marklan Desert, a member of one of the nomadic tribes of Scopulae. She was a quick learner, becoming a skilled hunter before she was fifty. She mastered the use of the elven sling, and was a respected member of the tribe before she had even declared herself an adult.
She began to study the ways of the ranger when she ninety, as a way to help her tribe. She would often go on long scouting trips, searching for food or water sources. By the time she declared herself an adult at the age of 99, she was being brought in to discussions with the tribal elders on where they would travel. Her skills bred jealousy in a fellow scout, one who had previously held sway over where the tribe moved. He was two hundred years her elder, and grew angrier as she became more and more trusted.
When she was 115, she traveled alone on a scouting mission to find a water source, their current one drying out. A fellow scout had told her of an old spring that they hadn't visited since she was a small child, and suggested that though it was a good distance away, it may be the best choice. When she asked why they hadn't gone for so long, he shrugged, and said that he assumed it was because it was so far from their normal path that it was only worthwhile when other sources were coming up dry.
Belia set off, not knowing that her fellow scout was a pawn in her rival's game. She arrived at the springs, and found the true reason - the spring was surrounded by carnivorous vegetation. Her growing skills were enough to let her escape, but she was sickened by something, and her return to her tribe was slowed as she fought the disease. She ran out of food a week before making it back, and only her honed survival skilled allowed her to find enough water to keep going. By the time she returned, she had been gone more than a month, with no news to show for it.
As she approached the camp, she smelled the death in the air. She pushed forward as fast as she could, and came upon a pit, piled high with the bodies of her tribe. Her stomach clenched, wanting to expel the food she hadn't had. She dragged herself away, and started towards the center of the camp. There, in front of the Honor Tent, she saw the chief. A pole had been erected, and a spike driven through the chiefs wrists into the pole, just high enough that the chief's bare feet didn't touch the ground. He had probably been dead for less than a day, but he may have survived days in that position before he finally couldn't lift up enough to fill his lungs.
She screamed, her entire world shattered, and collapsed to the ground. When she awakened, night was falling, and her lack of food and water was catching up with her. She crawled to a nearby tent, and found a half full water skin and some jerky. After eating and drinking enough to survive, she fell asleep, and didn't wake until morning.
The first thing she did was find more food and water, then searched the camp for survivors. She found none, but she did find a series of strange symbols, each stained with blood. She also found a trail leaving the camp, heading to the north east. She set off to follow, hoping to learn what had happened. The trail was lost in the sands fairly quickly, but it went far enough that she could guess where it had to be heading.
After a week of traveling, usually finding evidence of her quarry when she camped. Eventually, she came to the shores of the great Undrinkable, and a small port town. She contended with the strange looks, until she found one who looked at her a bit too long. She made her way towards the water, watching as the man attempted to follow. She saw a tavern by the docks, sitting just off the beach. She rounded the tavern, and crouched in the shadows of the building, adjusting her kaftan until she would fade from view. The man peeked around the corner, paused, then came all the way around with a puzzled look. As he passed Belia on the way to the back of the building, she looped her sling around his neck, pulled him in, and ordered him to talk.
She found that he had seen another scopulae come through a few days earlier, and the man stole his belongings, then knocked him out and left him alone on the edge of the desert. He was looking for a little payback, and thought two desert elves in town in a week couldn't be a coincidence. She apologized for his first encounter, and told him that she was seeking whatever killed her clan. When the man described the elf, and it was clearly her jealous elder, she knew that he had somehow done it. With the help of the man, she eventually determined he had to have left on a boat that would take him across the Undrinkable, to a town called Kira's Landing.
She eventually arranged for her own transport, but by that point the trail had gone cold. She despaired of ever finding out what happened, until she met a member of the Circle, Aldris Liandon . She described the symbols that she had found, and he recognized them as the marks of Malignom, and a symbol of evil. When he explained his purpose and that of the Circle, she asked how she could help. The two traveled together for a time, until Gyre decided she should be brought in. She joined the circle in 853 Af., at the age of 129.
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