Yashia Jadysvarion

Name: Yashia Jadysvarion
Title(s): Knight of the Aster
Home/Location: Everywhere and nowhere
Birthplace: Westreach (small village north of Scornubel)
Age: 25
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Deity: Gwaeron Windstrom / Lathander
Alignment: NG

Background:
Yashia was born in Westreach, a small settlement on the borders of the Reaching Woods that mostly thanked it’s existence to hunting, woodworking and carpentry. It lay just to the north of Scornubel, the Caravan City. Her mother died giving birth to her only child. While her father, Harald, felt that their daughter was to blame, from the moment he first laid eyes upon the little girl, he knew he could not forsake her. Much less hate her.

Harald was a travelling merchant who had become fairly wealthy from his trade. He could raise Yashia with what he had, though it cost him most of his savings, for he couldn’t continue his work on the side. As Yashia grew up to be quite a remarkable young woman, Harald started taking her on small trade trips to make a living. She got to know and befriended many people, among them a Lathanderian paladin named Keldaron Silverhart, whom she liked more than a little.

In time, she became fond of travelling and the outdoors. When she wasn’t on the road, Yashia would often go out to explore and admire the woods where she had sometimes played as a child. Yashia came in contact with a circle of druids, who taught her the ways of the wild in return for the promise that she would not reveal their existence or their location unless she absolutely had to.

One day, her father fell ill. The man was too proud to accept any help from strangers, so Yashia sought out the aid of the druids for a cure. She was sent to the city to gather the more exotic ingredients that weren’t found in the Western Heartlands. Once there, she stumbled upon her friend Keldaron and the two of them exchanged news. The paladin told her of an insane necromancer, known as Xialt, who had escaped the grasp of his temple and was nowhere to be found. Yashia spoke of her father’s illness. When Keldaron offered the Healing House of Lathander’s help, she insisted that she was already working on a cure. Respecting her wishes, the knight helped her find the components she was looking for, though some of them were strange indeed.

Keldaron had always been caring, but when they were done, Yashia got the impression that he was now more protective and worried about her safe journey home than before. Keldaron offered to come with her, but she declined with a smile which he couldn’t refuse. The two of them said their goodbyes and parted with an embrace. On her journey not yet home but towards the forest, she was in good spirits. Not only because she knew she’d have a cure soon, but she also secretly hoped that her long time friend would finally answer her feelings for him.

Upon returning to the circle and handing over the materials she bought, the druids claimed that one final ingredient was needed: a drop of untainted blood of the diseased. Knowing that this was impossible, Yashia offered her own, as she was the only other who had his blood coursing through her veins. The druids of the circle accepted, and told her the cure would require some time to prepare. She was to return in the morning. The night was falling and Yashia went home, where she cared for Harald a while. She was very tired, however, and it did not take long before she fell asleep, sitting on a chair right beside her father.

She awoke from a disturbance… she heard her sick father groan, a most unnatural sound, which was soon followed by a scream in the distance. Yashia looked up, her eyes still sleepy and her body still numb. She looked through the window and noticed that it was still the deepest of night, though a dark greenish cloud covered most of the light that would normally shine down from the moon and stars. A rotting stench filled the air, which made her almost want to throw up.

Yashia laid her hand on her father’s shoulder. Just as she was about to ask if he was alright, the man suddenly turned and lashed out at her with a rotting hand. She could only barely evade his grasp thanks to her quick reflexes, the chair fell over and she backed off towards the doorway out of the room. Terrified, she looked at his face. It was clear that the man before her was her father, but he had changed from being ill to something far worse.

Harald rose up from his bed and limped towards Yashia, coming ever closer. In panic and tears, she ran downstairs as fast as she could, without tripping. Yashia tried opening the front door when it occurred to her that she had left the keys in her father’s bedroom. The monstrous being her father had turned into was now close behind and seemed ready to devour his own blood. Instinctually, Yashia grabbed the strong steel handaxe standing beside the door, which had been used by her father to keep away troublemakers at the house and on the road. She swung it with all the might she could muster and struck true, chopping her assailant’s head clean off. She watched silently for a moment as the head rolled away and it’s rotting corpse fell lifelessly to the ground. She realized what she had done and fell to her knees before her father’s remains. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She screamed…

Seconds later, a man fully clad in armor broke down the door and rushed to the young woman’s aid. It was Keldaron. Upon seeing what had happened, the paladin took Yashia in his arms and tried to comfort her. When he told her that they had to go, that it was not safe, she simply did as he said without hesitation. She felt like she had lost her will and had no idea what would happen next, nor did she care.

Leaving the house, Yashia heard a woman sadly saying that she had found no survivors. An old man responded that the last he could do for a family was putting their remains to rest, after which he coughed, probably from the thick tainted air. When the two other paladins saw Keldaron approach them, supporting the fair young merchant’s daughter, a glimpse of happiness seemed to appear in their eyes. The four of them together left Yashia’s birth village behind. She would never see it again.

Yashia was taken into the care of the temple of Lathander in Scornubel. She appeared broken, but Keldaron found a way to restore her will to go on. He shared with her a piece of poetry he had written, which he would always read to himself in his darkest hours and states of depression. Yashia was still saddened, but her hope was renewed. Not having said a word since the day before, she spoke to Keldaron of what had happened and felt as if some of the weight was lifted. She even told him of the druids, because she felt she had to. They were the ones who had, with her own help, created the foul clouds to turn her village into a place of death. Of that she was certain.

No more than a day later, the three paladins gathered a force of armed men to go north to scour the woods with the directions Yashia had given, in search of the ones responsible for the terrible events in Westreach. Just before they left, the merchant’s daughter her worries to Keldaron as he had done to her when she left the city the last time. In turn, he assured her everything would be alright. He told her to remember the words he spoke to her earlier, the poem that inspired hope. Finally, he gently kissed her goodbye.

For hours and hours, Yashia anxiously awaited the return of the group, her beloved paladin in particular. After four days, late in the evening, only one of the party literally came crawling home. He was gravely wounded. It was Luther, the elderly paladin who had also been there on that dreadful night a few days ago. He spoke of the druids gone mad and having been turned into vampires in service of Xialt. They said that ‘the death of the land had been repaid in kind’.

A battle had ensued, in which many of the unprepared forces of Scornubel fell quickly. The corrupted druids were only barely defeated. Luther and Keldaron, the only two who remained alive, had settled for some time to rest. Then Xialt himself appeared and drained the last remaining energy out of the already severely injured Keldaron. He crippled Luther and left him to his misery, to choose for himself if he wanted attempt to make his way to Scornubel with the strength he had left, or to die with the rest of them.

Yashia was once again in a state of sorrow. Now, she had lost everything. Everyone she held dear no longer lived, all because of her. She had killed her mother when she was born, her father and her childhood friends of her home village through her acts of ignorance, and now the man she loved by giving him the incentive to march towards his own demise. Yashia wished she could have died in their stead, she deserved it. She spent the whole night lying on her bed in the room she had been given, and cried herself to sleep.

But in her dreams, she remembered Keldaron’s last wish. She thought of the comforting words he had given her, and she dreamt of them as a song. They were no longer merely comforting her… they were given meaning, they gave her purpose. That was when she knew her calling, the path ahead of her: she had to make up for all the wrongs that she had caused to those dear to her, and do whatever she could to prevent others from meeting similar dark fates. This, she vowed to herself. She would do it to honor him.

In the days to come, she devoted herself to serving Lathander’s temple. The loss of two of it’s champions was deeply mourned, but every last one of the temple’s servants saw the hopeful face of the girl who had lost it all, though boldly remained standing. When Luther had recovered, he initiated Yashia Jadysvarion as his pupil, a member of the Order of the Aster. He saw in her a strong soul. He believed it was his duty to pass on to her the experience of his lifetime, as to prepare her for what lay ahead. He taught her the way of the paladin, before he himself would grow too old.

Several years passed, until the venerable Luther’s heart gave in after a life of toil for the greater good. For some time, Yashia remained as the last paladin of the Aster in Scornubel. However, the only trouble in the area was caused by disputes over money and ownership, as well as political intrigue. Yashia longed to seek out the true threats to humanity and to bring hope to those who most needed it. Against the pleas and orders of the Healing House of Lathander to make her stay as an example to the people who no longer seemed to care about anything but their own welfare, she simply said her goodbyes and departed one day and headed northwest.

Many months she travelled along the Trade Way and wandered the lands around it, lending her aid to both the people and nature whenever she could. Eventually, Yashia came to know of a land called Sundren, rumored to be at the mercy of evils that were not at all too different from the ones that had befallen her in her youth. Little did she know that her true tests had yet to come…

Recent History:
Ever since her arrival at Port Avanthyr, Yashia has found very little peace in Sundren. She has faced just about every significant hostile faction there is to be found and it's almost as if odd and dangerous people and events are drawn to her. The Banites, supposedly under command of a fallen Tormite known as Landaren, have become her greatest enemies. Their involvement with undeath and the vile methods they use have to be put to an end.

Luckily, she also got to know plenty of people with similar interests. Yet she feared to form a real bond with any of them. Until recently, she was afraid that if she got too close to anyone, she might be the cause of even more grief. Not only to them, but also to herself. Her feeling of responsibility for anything bad that happened to those around her nearly got the better of her at some point. Her meeting with Balthasar, to whom she was introduced by Hano Fetten, has helped her to partially get over that though.

A milestone in her life was her involvement with Lauan. It became fairly well known that a slaver was selling the girl, and Yashia felt sorry for her fate. She decided to try to help her gain freedom and gathered funds to 'win' the auction. It did happen, but not entirely as planned. She was coaxed into breaking the law, which after her already loosened ways of promoting order rather than enforcing it, was the last straw that caused her to fall from paladinhood. While she feels she has lost her dignity, Yashia is fairly satisfied with the results of what she did. She has given Lauan a happier life, after all. Still, she regrets her mistakes, but willingly faces the consequences.

When it was decided upon by a large group of adventurers to storm the Necropolis in order to liberate it from Banite control, Yashia initially disagreed, fearing the mission was too ill prepared. But she was unwilling to let the company, among which were some of her closest friends, meet their doom without herself being present to protect them. Besides, she knew that she could be an invaluable asset with her knowledge of the undead minions they would face. While the mission was a success, and Landaren and Tifton were forced to abandon their outpost, Yashia sympathized with Alyrian, who had won the day but seemingly lost control over a curse from his past.

...

Appearance:
A young woman in her mid-twenties. She moves gracefully and is quite good looking, but she doesn’t seem to be trying to show it off in any way. Her eyes are a very light tone of blue in color and she sports her bright blonde hair in a simple haircut. Her posture is somewhat tall and appears to be lean, but years of physical training definitely didn’t make her frail. Her face mostly shows an expression of sorrow and hope combined. She might be a bit of a dreamer, but those who look closely will notice she is not at all oblivious to her surroundings.

Personality:
Yashia Jadysvarion is a charming but humble young woman. She meets many people, yet she has lived a lonely life. Yashia is a woman with purpose. She has a strong heart and a spirit to match, which may not only inspire those in her company, but strangely draws a lot of odd events and people to her as well. She despises those who intentionally do harm to others if it serves them and feels personally obliged to put an end to the existence of (sentient) undead and foul uses of necromancy. While generally kind and gentle, Yashia can also be blunt and sarcastic. She is usually law-abiding and firmly believes in order, but when it comes down to it, she is rather passionate and doing the right thing is most important to her.

Deities:
As she has devoted her life to seeking out evil and putting an end to it so no more harm may be done, Yashia follows the guidance of Gwaeron Windstrom to lead the way on her never ending journey. Nevertheless, she is also still a firm believer of Lathander, who gives her the strength and will to go on with the seemingly impossible goals she has set for herself.

Faction(s):

• the Order of the Aster

Significant Relationships:

• Sehron Dy'ner: Though vastly different in personality, they have grown fond of one another. Yashia had issues with letting him too close at first, but those have mostly been set aside.
• Lauan Tissle: Just like Yashia is as a mother to Lauan, she in return cares for the woman with the mind of a young girl as if she were her own daughter. After buying her freedom from slavery, she has pretty much adopted Lauan and has been trying to teach her what she needs to know to face the world on her own.
• Balthasar: While a bit distant, Yashia looks up to Balthasar and finds him to be an inspirational figure. She has sworn to serve him and the Triumverate with her abilities as a tracker and undead huntress for as long as they share the same cause, which might be a while.
• Yashia is frequently seen in the company of Nulinus, Gromlin, Calandra, Lida, Hano and Jalmar, both "at work" and in spare time. They have their differences, but generally get along quite well.
• Samantha: Yashia's way of life brings her strong allies as well as enemies. The necromancer and the fallen paladin are polar opposites in just about everything and hold a deep seething hatred for one another.