Maia Nanethiel

General Information

Name: Maia Nanethiel Title: Lady of the Hawkeye Home/Location: The Ranger's Rest Birthplace: Moonvines, Moonwood Age: 128 Race: Moon elf Gender: Female Class: Ranger (18) Deity: Solonor Thelandira Alignment: Chaotic Good Abilities: Str 16, Dex 22, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 12 Maia Nanethiel - pronounced Ma-ia Nahn-eh-thee-ell and literally meaning "Mother-Of-Pearl" in Old Espruar - is a player character whom was created by Zoberraz (GameSpy ID and Forum Member), on May 2nd 2008. Grown into an highly competent adventurer and an experienced ranger since her arrival to the Sundered Valley, Maia has earned some renown for her lethal marksmanship with the bow as well as for her distinctive long sapphire-colored hair.

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Biography

Appearance

Physical Characteristics

• Height: 5'3"
• Weight: 92 lbs
• Skin color: Fair, blue-tinged
• Hair Color: Sapphire Blue
• Hairstyle: Long and straight, short tresses to each side of her face
• Eye Color: Green, with golden flecks

Description

Maia is a strikingly beautiful Teu'Tel'Quessir female graced with fair skin tinged with icey blue towards her ear tips, chin and nose, as well as most bodily extremities. Her hair is a deeper blue - it's luster and shine like sapphire - worn flowing and long, except for two tresses framing each side of her face to keep bangs from falling into her eyes. She has the delicate facial features, elegant elongated ears and almond eyes distinctive to her race, with entrancing eyes that appear as flecks of gold dancing in pools of green. Maia has the graceful spritely frame of a dancer, the athletic muscle tone of one at ease with outdoor activities and, though looking as fresh as a human maiden just out of her teenage years, her youthful looks are betrayed by what could be called ageless wisdom.

Maia would stand as the archetypal ethereal elven beauty garbed in moonsilk and dancing in palaces, were it not of the mithral armor, sword and bow she wears with accustomed ease; as well as the snug woodland garb and hooded cloak she dons as a concessions to Sundren's rainy weather.

To an elf's eyes, or a knowledgeable observer, Maia's features have a fey quality to them, one that is beyond the norm for moon elves.

Personality

Maia is an elfwoman whom typically holds a serene, polite and charming demeanor. While expressive, Maia makes efforts to mitigate negative emotional extremes over a belief that with self-control, she can act in a fashion of her choosing rather than impulsively react. To this end, Maia rarely betrays exasperation, anger or sadness; usually mitigating them to annoyance, nonchalance and disappointment. With this patience and tolerance, she finds it easy to hold a friendly stance to most she meets; though orcbloods, fury-worshipers and chronically boorish people test her on those grounds.

Little attached to the dour ranger loner archetype, Maia finds that devoting her unique talents as a ranger to assist and support others that also care to confront the ills of the Sundered Valley is more fruitful and constructive than going it alone. She is a firm believer in championing the cause of good in this fashion; holding as her philosophy the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.

Faith

Maia's patron deity is Solonor Thelandira, titled the Great Archer, the Keen-Eye or the Forest Hunter. A god of the Seldarine (the elven pantheon), Solonor holds as his portfolio archery, hunting and wilderness survival. In his service she works to promote harmony between civilization and the wilds, struggles under the green canopy of trees to keep evil in check and follows his teachings of foresight before action in other to avoid regretful consequences. Most of the god's tenets she follows more as second nature than as duty, as Solonor's hopes and desires mirror her own.

She holds the rest of the Seldarine in high esteem, with prayers to Corellon Larethian, Sehanine Moonbow and Erevan Ilesere coming the most easily to her lips after Solonor. Evil gods such as Bane, Lolth, Gruumsh One-Eye and the Deities of Fury she holds a dim view of, though Maia reserves a deep-seated dislike for Malar.

Profession

Skills

As a Solonoran ranger, Maia focuses on skills which will best serve her in the wilds; from being stealthy and alert to having the knowhow and the necessary woodscraft to live on her own in the wilds. Her expertise has extended these skills beyond the mundane thanks to her empathic link with all things natural, so helping her bond with animals; pass through even forbidding flora such as thorns and brambles with ease; as well as being able to intuitively pick up trails and signs left in the wilds at a mere glance. Her experience hunting in the wilds have taught her how to stalk prey with alacrity, boasting discretion without the need to slow down.

Combat Style

She is strongly dedicated to archery both in homage to her patron deity and to support the image of elves being famed for their preternatural skill with the bow. Maia has a rare mastery of the longbow, being capable of nocking, drawing and releasing arrows faster than most without hindering her precision; she also has a knack for firing multiple volleys of two simultaneously-nocked arrows. A nimble combatant, her reflexes are well honed - well enough so to swiftly move clear of hazards ranging from traps, a wizard's fireball to dragonbreath.

Favored Enemy

Throughout her adventures, Maia has developed in the classic ranger fashion an extra focus and study to fight certain kinds of opponents better as well as gain insights over them both in mindset and anatomy which all help her better confront them. This specialization currently extends to orcs, humans, undead and monstrous humanoids (such as Yuan-Ti).

Animal Companion

The boar "Aodan" was befriended by Maia after she saved him from a group Spittlefist goblin hunters. The animal, either out of gratitude or in understanding of Maia's status as a defender of the wilds, now tags along with her and comes to her call if she needs aid in battle.

Spellcasting

Maia, through her patron deity's favor, has command over some nature magics and enchantments. Spell rituals she often resorts to are those whom help staunch wounds, quicken her strides, make her skin as resilient as treebark, call Solonor's blessing to aid her in battle and finally assault several creatures with unnatural enchantments such as confusion and slumber.

History

The Distant Past

Maia Nanethiel was born in Moonvines, a small elven village nestled in the Moonwood. Her parents, Jelenn and Berian, were two sentinels whom worked to keep their village safe from ill-intentioned intruders and the Moonwood has no shortage of opponents for the elves to fend off. Though their daughter had for the most part a blissful childhood during her first five-decades of life, the martial life her parents lead bled off on her and she learned early on of the importance of contributing to the well-being of her community and how people like her parent's vigilance helped in securing the happiness of the villagers.

Being useful, being able to protect her loved ones, being able to fight for the preservation of their forest-home... those were beautiful ideals to the elfgirl. Ideals that motivated her to go beyond play and games and to follow after her parents example, dedicating herself to the practice of the bow, to understanding the fauna and flora, to bond a bond with it and to be able to fight for it. She was not content to remain a protector and more a champion of her people, and for that reason she devoted most of her efforts into pursuing the ideals of Solonor the Forest Hunter instead of Rillifane the Leaflord, as her parents did.

The beginning of Maia's career went to a rocky start as the People of the Black Blood, a loose grouping of Malar-worshiping tribes, predated upon the sylvan creatures of the Moonwood and made a strong push on her village that resulted in many wounded including her father and the death of elves she had known for more than a century. Her people pressed so, Maia volunteered to leave for Silverymoon and beg for the assistance of the Argent Legion in quelling this threat.

Her arrival to Silverymoon was something of a shock, as it was the first truly cosmopolitan city she had ever set foot in. Coming in as a representative of her village, she made her plea to Silverymoon's high ranking officials; eventually gaining the ear of the High Marshall. The High Marshall was not able to send his Argent Legion in a timely fashion to strike at the northern reaches of the Moonwood. He did, however, agree to fund an expedition to strike at Claw Hollow, the stronghold of the Malarites, and then made a call for adventurers to come and assist the elves of Moonvines.

A large company gathered to the call and Maia lead them back to the Moonwood to Claw Hollow, where they fought their way where the People of the Black Blood laired and defeated their guardians and warchiefs, forcing the Malarites to curb their predations to recoup from those loses.

The Recent Past

Her bewildering search for assistance against the Malarites widened Maia's horizons and struck a cord in her, driving her to move beyond the branches of the evergreens, shadowtops, and duskwoods of her home to explore the wide world. She bade farewell to her kin and left, walking the roads, traveling along with caravans as a way to save up on the coin gifted to her by her relatives.

She returned to Silverymoon to truly take the time to enjoy the sights of that city before hiring herself out as an escort to a caravan which was bound west to Neverwinter. While sightseeing in Neverwinter, Maia heard of scrimshaw and knucklehead carving, and her interest in seeing such provided her with the excuse to wandering further toward the North. By boat, she arrived to Sundren and foul weather prevented her from leaving. Seeing her funds on the decline, Maia decided to go and ply her trade - there seemed to be a need for the adventurous sort and she was more than happy to try and help out.

The Present

Maia's first days in Sundren had her b an errand girl more than anything else, but she valued those experiences as they lead her feet to many places of interest in the Sundered Valley. Eventually, she turned to more militant pursuits, and started assisting the Exigo Syndicate in fighting the Spittlefist goblin tribe in the Sharahan Hill, the struggle to mine the Sundrite ore in the hill uncovering a more sinister Banite plot.

Richly rewarded for her contributions, Maia turned her feet to the Viridale Forest with her boar friend "Aodan" and then lent her assistance to the Legion Border Fort in fighting off the predations of the Mossclaw Alliance, finding herself thrust into the role of a skirmisher that eliminated the leaders of each respective camps in order to stall their advance. She in turn assisted the Keeper of the Glade in recovering a dangerous artifact dedicated to the dark goddess Talona from the Viridale's Muckspear goblin tribe.

She turned her attention to more urban venues and had an unpleasant episode of helping the Sundarian Legion clear up the sewers of lizardmen and other vermin, as well as play courier for the officials of the Legion - which eventually got her into conflict with the Veritas rebels. From that point on, the elven ranger dedicated herself more to hunting bandits and rebels upon the mountainous fringes of the valley, her stint as a bounty hunter giving her the opportunity to earn her something of a reputation in regards of her marksmanship with the bow.

Maia came to be involved with the human bard Osclow Wiltenholm and began assisting him in various situations; from one time when he was arrested for spying by a Thayan Knight, to helping him deal with Veritas rebels and assisting him and his companions in trying to find a way to lift a deadly corpus curse from two of his friends, the Sunite Knight Cirion and the one-eyed elven duskblade Peridan.

Faction(s)

• Maia is a ranger aligned to the Wardens of the Vale, based in the Viridale Forest's druid glade.

Relationships

Significant

• Osclow Wiltenholm: Maia is very fond of Osclow, inwardly ranking him as her favorite human in the Sundered Valley. She finds appeal in the man through his benevolence, his generosity, his open-mindedness, and his charming wit. Seeing that Osclow himself is in effect an active 'problem solver', Maia has endeavored to support and help him as much as she could in his trials until she herself would find something worth standing up for.

• Peridan Twilight: Maia's impressions of Peridan's are somewhat distorted, since she has never known him before the ravages of the corpus curse which currently afflicts both his mind and body. She does have a soft spot to Peridan, noticing that he has looked back for her in gratefulness for her help in trying to deal with his curse, and that despite his stern and forbidding demeanor.

• Etria Illiathor: Etria is an old friend. Maia owes to Etria's craftmanship the enchanted arms and armor she now wears.

Acquaintances

• Annaleen Hanssen: Maia wishes to be Annie's friend, but she find the tomboyish druid a little hard to approach in a more personal fashion. To Maia's dismay (and the fact that girl talk seems rather ineffective in helping form bonds with Annie) the only thing the two women really seems to have in common is their shared dislike for Fenton's rudeness and their appreciation for Osclow's company.

• Fenton Tellens: Fenton is Osclow's friend, and Osclow seems to care for him... but that is about the only redeeming value Maia finds in a man whom has spurned every niceties she has extended to him, usually ignoring her or pretending she does not exist.

• Cirion Reliun: Another victim of the corpus curse, Cirion feels to Maia as someone whom would have had been nice to spend time with would she not feel he would be bursting at the seams gradually. She is really hoping to get to know the Sunite better once he is cured from his curse and is determined to have that happen before it is too late.

• Yashia Jadysvarion: Yashia is Cirion's lover, and by extension one of Maia's allies, though Maia has developed an antipathy for the human woman - thinking her aloof, overly self-righteous and condescending.

• Lauan Tissle: The Thayan Knight made a rather intimidating first impression on Maia and many of Maia's acquaintances (owed in turn to keeping Osclow's company) turn a bad eye on Lauan as well... but Maia has so far managed to keep respectful, if strained, dialogue with the Lady Knight.

• Tarangil Dennenshire: The sun elf wizard and Maia are on friendly terms, but have done little more than exchanging bits of gossip and adventuring around the Viridale forest and the Aquor mountains together.

• Branan Frostbite: Branan being a follower of Auril hasn't done much to lead Maia to liking him, but both have had respectful dealings with each other, even going so far as cooperating when faced with common foes. Branan appears convinced that Maia is favored by Auril and freely bestows his goddess' blessing upon what he cryptically called "winter's own daughter".

• Eira Skald: Another follower of Auril, Maia has adopted a 'live and let live' mentality in regards to Eira, though honestly she does not enjoy the woman's company for her usually caustic demeanor.

• Corvus Corax: Corvus and Maia, both rangers, ought to have been kindred spirits if not for the awkwardness of Corvus being a Veritas spy. Corvus has twice risked his life to save Maia's, so, Maia feels very uncomfortable about seeing him 'across the fence'm seeing that she aligned herself against the Veritas.

• Alexander Dias: The human wizard and would be golem-maker has cordial relations with Maia, though she is actually somewhat uncomfortable doing anything with him - something about Alex strikes her as dangerously amoral, aloof and callous... enough so for Maia to really only wish to exchange pleasantries with him and little more.

• Chani Kalera: Chani is an arrogant, somewhat boorish woman that Maia cares very little for. Smart, but a lazy thinker, all interaction with Chani seems to revolve around fighting, or her following around her current employer, Alexander Dias.

• Elusa Myrn: Maia like to be Elusa's friend, but Elusa is so strange and distant that Maia has never really had the opportunity (or much of the desire in) approaching her in order to get to know her. Inwardly, Maia suspects that she does not do so because she is afraid that would she get to know Elusa better, she would only be disappointed.

• Amenia: The wild elf spellcaster atypically wields powerful magical abilities for one of her kind, but instead of being impressed, Maia is for the most part revolted: Amenia uses her power to command fell magics and bring forth gruesome creature from the lower planes to do her bidding. Also, seeing that Maia has caught Amenia lying as well as learned of the wild elf's ties with Banites and the Veritas rebels have found Maia barely willing to acknowledge Amenia being an elf at all.

• Elric Bodner: The human farmer turned adventurer and Maia initially struck out fairly well with each other, until an investigation of the peasant recruiting methods of the Veritas rebels brought the two of them into an ideological conflict; Maia taking a ruthless stance upon the recruited peasants for having made the choice of becoming rebels, while Elric considered them innocent. From that point on Elric has pretty much been treating Maia with the assumption that she was a cold-hearted bitch.

• Peligir Of Easthaven: A fellow ranger, Maia gets along well with Pelegir. She finds his dedication to the elf god of vengeance Shevarash unfortunate, and hopes that he can eventually come to term with the painful circumstances of his past, so that he might look forward to a better future instead of a life spent stoking the hatred in his heart.

• Cybil Gelley: Maia knows Cybil mostly through Osclow, but while she perceives Cybil as an all-around good person whom is helpful to the needy, she really hasn't really had muchj of an opportunity to get to know her aside from her combat prowess and apparently innate divine powers.

Kin and Family

• Jelenn & Berian Nanethiel: Maia's parents, both moon elven rangers worshiping Rillifane Rallathil. Their trade is that of guards and sentries around the perimeter of Moonvines.

Miscellaneous Information

Fey Heritage

Maia enjoys the mixed blessing of a fey bloodline, which has bloomed further in the face of adversity. The benefits include innate glamours of sleep and confusion that she can tap into, increased resistance against charms and enchantments that would target her mind and a noted resilience against wounds not made by weapons forged out of cold iron - she's observed that lighter weapons such as daggers, shortswords or arrows sometime strike her without drawing blood.

The curse Maia finds in this bloodline of her is the growing influence it has had on her actions, her whims and her urges. Sometimes, her self-control slips and she suffers from these 'fits' that essentially make her uninhibited, and far more prone to being amoral, cruel and selfish.

Due to an increased affinity with cold that came along with her blossoming heritage (and the odd approval she's received from certain Aurilites), Maia has grown to suspect that her heritage comes from somesort of cold fey, though she knows little beyond that. She is not too far of the mark as her fey ancestor is actually a [Frostwind Virago].

Links

• [Maia's character page in Player Options]

Origin

Maia was originally created in Febuary 2007, right after the first servervault wipe, and lasted until the second servervault wipe. Her existence was noteworthy for her being a strong champion of elvenkind whom was able to cobble together the faction known as the 'Council of Voices', encouraging the creation of an elven stronghold and having the elves considered a recognized political party by the Sundarian Government. Maia herself in the end was considered Sundren's best archer and the highest-level ranger (level 17).