measi's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Because I'm feeling overtly creative today... I finally got myself to write a bio of my longtime character for JT's campaign, Tanya. (heh... only 2 1/2 years overdue). It's still draft-copy, and I need to double-check some dates and such for consistency with both the Forgotten Realms canon and LGM's history of Tyrel, but here's my bit of fine freeversing writing for the afternoon... can you tell it's a slow afternoon at work? **Biographical information on Tanya Cliffmore, high priestess of Kelemvor** Tanya Cliffmore is one of the highest ranking clerics of Kelemvor who did not attain her ability under one of the previous gods of the dead. As of this writing, her clerical spell ability reaches high level spells such as resurrection, holy word, and greater scrying. Lady Tanya (who prefers not to use her family name) is the head cleric of the Temple of Dignified Demise and the College of Mortuary Science, which resides on church grounds. She founded the temple in 1371 DR within the walls of Dormin Keep, a small but fast-growing community in the Western Heartlands residing on the trade route between the Dragon Coast and Waterdeep. Under her guidance are six acolytes who help with temple maintenance and research within the college. Lady Tanya and her brothers and sisters of the faith hope to create an extensive library, with the help of other temples of Kelemvor and the church of Oghma, for all clerics of the Kelemvorite church to study different burial customs from every corner of Faer�n, anatomy of the bodies of the sentient races and methods of post-mortem study that could aid in assisting the church of Ilmater to alleviate suffering during life, proper construction of graveyards and crypts, and extensive information on the types of undead and information on infamous individuals (lichs, vampires, etc). As Lady Tanya is oft to say with some amusement, her attempt to eliminate undead is only to help alleviate the �administrative paperwork� Lord Kelemvor must keep on such individuals. (This scribe can only imagine that she wonders if Lord Kelemvor�s throneroom resembles that of our temple offices, with no offense to Lord Kelemvor and his administrative organizational habits, of course.) In addition to her temple duties, Tanya also travels with an adventuring group known as the �Innburners� and serves as their party cleric. Her companion in her travels is a grey pegasus, whom she rides with great skill. Her travels have ranged from the hot deserts of Calimshan to the bitter cold of The Ride and north to the realm of the Ice Witch. The travels of the Innburners can be found in the Scrolls of Burning Inns up on request from the temple archives. Lady Tanya�s personal history is a rather unremarkable one until her early twenties. A daughter of a human male, Karl Cliffmore, and moon-elf female, Alastrianna Silverdale, she was born 31 Marpenoth, 1335 DR. Young Tanya lived in the town of Daggerford in the Western Heartlands with her parents for the majority of her childhood, although the family made frequent trips to the Dalelands to visit family and create trading deals to assist in the family business. Her father was a fighter for hire who hailed from the Dalelands. He often was away from home during Tanya�s youth, on hired battles against undead, drow, or the sieges laid by the Zhentarim and foul followers of Cyric. Her mother was descended from a minor lordship from an area that would later be known as Exham. A Ilmarian cleric by training, Lady Alastrianna worked as a merchant of various elven wares, using her proceeds to support the Ilmarian church�s attemps to assist the sick and poor with clothes, food, and housing. Her mother�s teachings of generosity and kindness to the poor and suffering made a lasting impression on Tanya. It appeared that Tanya was bound to follow in her mother�s footsteps, and from a young age, Tanya found an interest in herbology and healing. In the spring of 1361, young Tanya and her family were spending the early trade months in the cities of Silverymoon and Luksan, due to the arrival of an early but severe winter. As her mother made contacts in the trade guilds of the city, her father was hired by the dwarves of Mithrill Hall to help protect the newly reclaimed dwarven city as its residents began to rebuild the mines and city supplies. During a surprise ambush by the drow of Mezobezzeran, her father was gravely wounded. Despite the efforts of the local clerics, her father died a �most painful death,� by Lady Tanya�s recollections. Her father�s death greatly affected her, changing her perspective of what would be her calling in life. Rather than assist those who were living within the church of Ilmater, she decided instead to focus on alleviate the suffering of the dying, and found her place within the newly formed church of Kelemvor. By 1363, Tanya was training under the eye of Brother Laren in the city of Neverwinter. Brother Laren, a famed herbologist of the Sword Coast, took Tanya under his wing and trained him in the methods of the church of Kelemvor, adjusting his training as Lord Kelemvor adjusted his focus. In 1366, Brother Laren himself was ailing, and died under Tanya�s care. Tanya had not yet taken her formal oath of service to the Lord of the Dead since as a half-elf she had not yet reached an age of maturity. After a new cleric of Kelemvor arrived to tend to Neverwinter�s needs, she returned home to Daggerford to contemplate her final commitment to her path. Her mother died that winter of an illness that swept through Daggerford, and Tanya, according to her mother�s final wishes, donated the family home and all but the most meager possessions to the Ilmarian church as her mother�s legacy. With no ties to leave behind, she headed to the Dalelands to seek out her relatives. It was during these travels that she paired up with her cousin Tyrel, who had committed himself to the path of Kelemvor as a fighter against the undead who had plagued his family�s lands for many years. In Nightal 1370, she pledged her commitment to Kelemvor. To develop her clerical abilities, the oath-witnessing cleric instructed her to travel the countryside, aiding those in need until she found an appropriate town for ongoing practice. Her cousin Tyrel remained at her side as both a traveling companion and protector. By Uktar 1371, the pair had found their way to the town of Exham in the Dragon Coast region, where they met up with a newly formed adventuring party that would become the Innburners. ~ Arul, scribe Temple archives of Kelemvor, Glister 2 Mirtul, 1372 DR 5:59 p.m. - 13 March 2003 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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