Elannia Altuliel, Bard-Ranger

Elannia Altuliel, professionally known as Elannia the Songstress, is one of the principle members of a group of entertainers known simply as the Traveling Troupe. The Troupe tours the Feywood on a circuit route that takes it through the region twice each year. Elannia's performances consist of ancient epic songs sung by the Elves of the Firsthome. As common as the Elves are within the Feywood, they generally do not mingle much with the village-folk in the settlements scattered around the Feywood, so when Elannia arrives with the Troupe, she becomes something of an attraction just for being there. The sense of wonder makes her performances that much more enthralling. She sees herself as something of an ambassador of elven traditions and culture among the shorter-lived Folk of the world.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Elannia Altuliel was born in the city of Four Rivers. Her father, Salidan Miraquill, was a true Wanderer Elf; with no desire to be bogged down by a child, he left the city (and Elannia's mother) before her birth. Elannia's mother, Trillianna Altuliel, had been born and raised in the Elvenhome, but had left to see the world. She met Salidan while traveling, and stayed with him, believing him to be the one she would life-bond with. Salidan enjoyed her company, and so while he never actually made any promises to Trillaianna, he did little to dissuade her ideas about their future together. When she announced that she was pregnant, he disappeared, leaving Trillianna in the raucous frontier town of Four Rivers, across the Iron Mountains from her original home. To Trilliana, it was like moving to a different planet.

The birth of Elannia allowed her mother to recover some sense of what it meant to be a Homekeeper Elf. She decided that her daughter would be taught every bit of her Elven heritage by her mother. Elannia would know her proud Elf heritage despite being far from the Elvenhome.

Race

Elf

Culture

Forest Elf

Currently Boarded Vehicle

The Carriage of Marvelous Wonders

Age

423

Date of Birth

26 Time of Goldhorn's Talisman, 1747CR

Gender

Female

Hair

Raven black

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Pale, almost pearly

Height

6' (183cm)

Weight

140lbs (63kg)

By the time Elannia was 40 years old and fully physically developed, it was evident to her mother that she had her father's Wanderer blood in her. The young elf longed to leave Four Rivers and see the world. Trilliana did what she could to dissuade this, and managed to keep her at home for another twenty years. During this time, Elannia performed in the various taverns around town - her elven voice and skill with various instruments made her a very popular attraction.

On her 60th birthday, Elannia announced that, instead of expecting a gift from her mother, she had one to give instead. She announced that Trillianna and her would be going on a journey - a trip back to the Elvenhome. Over the next year, mother and daughter traveled. They took their time to enjoy the beauty of what they encountered. They lingered in some places and hurried through others, but finally reached the Elvenhome wherer Trillianna was born. Her kin were thrilled to see her once again, and delighted to meet Elianna. But six months later, Elianna announced that she would be leaving - there was more of the world to see. Trilliana at least was home, and had the comfort of kin to ease her sorrow at seeing her daughter leave.

Elianna travelled the Frontier Lands for many years. She visited the Free Cities, spending a fair number of years in each before moving on. It was in Endmere where she met Karall Tillot, a human that fascinated her like no other ever had.

Education

Elannia had very little formal education. There were no schools for the youth of Four Rivers - children were taught at home or not at all. There were certainly no old Elven sages and mentors like those that had provided much of Trillianna's education. Elannia's mother took up the full task of educating her child - teaching her the Elven tongue and script even as she learned Commonspeech from those around her. She left the city to provide Ellania with the education she would need regarding non-Elven ways.

Elannia's education included lessons in Elven history - a topic that was of extreme importance to her mother. Being a native of the Firsthome Forest, and of the Homekeeper Elven culture, Trilianna made sure that her daughter knew the epic songs that told of the Awakening, and of the early years of discovery and wonder experienced by her elven ancestors. Elannia would make use of these songs in her future life.

Employment

Eventually, Elianna's travels brought her to the Feywood. It was over three hundred fifty years since she had left her mother, and now almost two hundred years since her lover, ?? had died. She found herself in Dryad Falls, earning her keep by performing Elven ballads in the taverns. And then one day in the year 2162CR, after performing a song telling of the creation of the Elves, she was approached by Andreas Highcastle, Andreas had the idea of forming a group of traveling entertainers. He had been an adventuring bard before his party disbanded, and while he did not desire to return to full-on adventuring, he missed the excitement of traveling around. Elannia's had lived the adventurer's life on and off over the years as well, and sometimes found herself missing the excitement, so she agreed. Seeking out other acquaintances they had made in their adventuring career, they purchased, outfitted, and customized a large covered wagon to serve as their home away from home as they traveled and performed. A mix of their continued sense of adventure and the belief that the Feywood to the South was becoming sufficiently settled caused them to try a circuit route that would bring them through all of the major settlements deep in the Feywood. Their first journey was so successful that they moved their winter home base from Meadow's End to Dryad's Falls, and they have been traveling the same circuit twice a year ever since.

Today, people along the route look with great anticipation toward to the two visits they receive each year from the The Carriage of Marvelous Wonders, the brighly painted wagon that carries the troupe from town to town.