Edana Elchar
Return to On Stolen Wings
Creator: Europa
Roleplay: On Stolen Wings
Nickname: Edana
Name: Edana Elchar.
Age: 23
Gender: Female.
Race: Tiefling.
Profession: Dragon Rider formerly of the Conclave, but now a mercenary independent of the group.
Bonded Dragon: Javor, a 12-year-old male. Pale blue scales with a white underbelly. Javor can be very uptight and particular about how things are done, and is obsessed with the idea of honor and that the thing that sets him and Edana apart from the common thief or Conclave rider is their adherence to rules and codes, including the few he might randomly come up with. They may be seen as a little tedious or absurd, but he gets upset when they're ignored.
Appearance: Pale orange skin, spotted with darker orange like freckles, and a long sweeping tail tipped with a leaflike arrow point. Her hair is brown and hangs down to her shoulder blades in loose waves, and her feet are cloven hooves that look like that of a goat. Her eyes are bright blue and seem to glow with an unnatural light. Her horns are slightly akin to an Antelope's in their color and swirling pattern, two growing vertically from her forehead, one of which has been snapped off, leaving a jagged stump. She also had a pair that curls around the back of her head, poking out behind her ears.
The most remarkable thing she wears is a sweeping cape made of deep purple velvet and trimmed with white fur. Underneath is a very nice set of studded leather armor.
Personality: To put it simply, Edana is the embodiment of the middle finger. Bitter, smug and sarcastic, unmistakably out for her own interests. Edana is willing to go to any length to get what she wants and aside from her family and her dragon doesn't believe in a relationship built on trust. they are the only pure friendships she has, and she doesn't intend to make any more. Edana cares deeply for her dragon and will sacrifice almost anything to protect him. Never assume you are more important to Edana than her dragon. Edana has a sharp mind, which she enjoys challenging with riddles and games of wit. Although her time in the Conclave and as a Mercenary has made her into a highly skilled warrior, she prefers to fight with manipulation and tricks instead of brute force. Whenever something comes down to a fight you can bet that Edana will fight dirty, expecting her enemies to do so as well. While she has no problem hitting someone where it hurts, she has trouble striking a killing blow, even as a last result.
History: Edana grew up in the Tiefling district of Asyna, and came from a poor family. Her father Ralros worked binding books, and her mother Zavine was a survivor of trafficking. Before Zavine was able to escape, both her horns and one of her eyes was taken from her. She'd get frequent chronic infections in her horn's stumps, and was often too sick to work. Without money for proper medical care, these infections ended up killing Zavine shortly after Edana was born.
Ralros, determined to see that his family survived, began working more. He did his best to be present in the lives of his children, but the task of caring for Edana mainly fell onto the shoulders of her two older brothers, Arik and Rasmus. Arik, the eldest, had an apprenticeship with a blacksmith, and although his mentor was flexible and understanding, most of the time he also had to work most of the day. This left Rasmus to be Edana's sole caretaker until his father and brother returned home. Edana grew up with a close relationship with all of her family members, but she and Rasmus always shared a special connection.
When Edana was six, Ralros fell ill. Without the money to pay for medicine, and no means of earning more with their father bedridden, Ralros's condition only worsened and the sickness soon claimed him. It was around this time Edana became obsessed with dragons. At a time when it felt like the world was against her, the idea of escaping into the clouds was extremely appealing.
To keep a roof over their heads both brothers, young as they were, began working. Rasmus taking his father's old job and Arik staying late to do odd jobs in the shop he was apprenticed in. Even though they were busier, the two brothers did their best to preserve the close-knit family relationship their father had valued. Most of the time, Rasmus was already home by the time Edana returned from school, and the three always spent the weekends together. This was how Edana spent most of her youngest years, cared for and loved by her two elder brothers, and its a time she remembers fondly.
When she was thirteen, Edana learned the Council was looking for recruits. The news thrilled her, and although Arik and Rasmus both knew she faced a high likelihood of rejection because of her heritage, neither of them had the heart to crush her enthusiasm. So, Arik took time off work and make the week-long journey to Draconis with her so she could stand before the council of Elders.
Edana begged to be trained but was dismissed out of hand. The reason was claimed to be because Edana didn't yet have a dragon, but one Elder spoke the truth out of turn.
"Being a Council rider is a position of honor. However badly you want to, the fact remains it simply is not in your nature."
The elder was scolded for his words, but they stuck with Edana and still do to this day. She'd had plenty of experience with racism over the years, but this was the first time it really, truly hurt. On the week-long journey back, that hurt soured into resentment, then hardened into determination. Edana wanted to be a rider more than anything in the world, and by the gods, she would be. No matter the cost. Not even a month later, Edana prepared to leave for the Conclave. At the time, the Conclave didn't accept women into their ranks, so Edana cut her hair, bound her chest, and left in the night. Knowing her brothers would never let her carry out such a dangerous plan, she stole away in secret, leaving a note for them to find in the morning when she was already long gone.
In the Conclave, she was known as Edric Arnon, a young boy behind his peers in combat because of his lack of prior training, but who more than made up for it with his quick mind and sharp instincts. Edana stayed level with her peers because of her ability to trick and strategize, finding innovative ways to combat her foe's strengths with her own, and to prey on their weaknesses. Her talent at getting into people's heads made more than a few of her fellow recruits wary of her, but also gained her a good deal of respect. Most importantly, it caught the attention of Blade Tobar, a Conclave Elder and Master in the Tiefling martial art Safd Syal. Seeing the potential in Edana, he took the young Tiefling on as his disciple.
The attention also earned Edana the curiosity (and jealousy) of Malik, the top student in her group. Getting this much attention from an Elder was extremely rare, and up until then, he was the only trainee in their age group to gain that status. Seeing Edric, the wily newcomer, snatch with ease something he'd had to work for put a sour taste in Malik's mouth. He treated her with cold indifference, and Edana acted in kind.
Their mentors, however, knew that the two had the potential to shape the future of the Conclave if they formed a close enough bond. The two rivals ended being paired in every mission they were sent to shadow, partnered in every training exercise, even sharing private training time together with their mentors. At first they were reluctant, but Edana soon found that Malik was more than a good fighter, he was an intelligent one, crafty enough to combat her tricks and mind games and force her to change tactics. Edana soon came to enjoy the challenge their constant game of one-upmanship presented and began to act friendlier towards him. Eventually, their rivalry did evolve into a close friendship. Malik became one of her most trusted confidantes, there was very little she wouldn't talk to him. Besides Elder Tobar, he was the only one to find out the truth about her gender (albeit by accident), and he was the first person she'd go to in times of homesickness or uncertainty. Rumor spread that they were a couple, or that they soon would be, and everyone agreed that the duo was destined to become a powerful force within the Conclave once their training was complete, a time that was fast approaching. For Edana, this meant she would be bonded with a dragon.
It was then, with everything she'd worked for in her grasp, that she finally came to the realization. She had become entirely too close to Malik, and when she left it would destroy him. Edana was suddenly confronted with an extremely difficult decision. Stay in the Conclave, with the promise of power and the companionship of the first person besides her brothers who she felt accepted the whole her, or return to her old life as she'd originally planned, and leave that bond in pieces behind her. She agonized of the choice until they tried to bond her with a dragon whose rider had been murdered. She ended up freeing the creature, claiming she wouldn't ride a "borrowed dragon", but inwardly she had finally come to a decision. She couldn't spend the rest of her life pretending, and she couldn't turn a blind eye on the evils the Conclave commits. She couldn't stay, not even for Malik.
In the year it took for her to complete her training, Edana focused on deepening her connection with Malik, attempting to sow the seeds of doubt about the Conclave in his mind so that when she left, he'd choose to go with her. Soon enough, the opportunity Edana had been waiting for arrived. The Conclave brought a new clutch of eggs into the camp. Edana stole into the nursery and took one, stashing it in the woods beyond the east gate before sounding a false alarm in the west as a diversion. She caught Malik on his way to answer the call and took him to the place she hid Javor's egg. Putting all her faith in her efforts, she shows it to him and urges him to leave with her.
The result couldn't have been more disastrous. Malik was furious, claiming she had never truly cared about him and condemning her as a traitor. He let her escape but vowed the next time they met he would kill her.
Edana wasted no time putting distance between her and the Conclave. She hid deep in the part of the mountain range far from their camp until Javor hatched, then began bouncing from kingdom to kingdom, never staying in any place longer than a week or so. Edana knew that Malik would expose her and that until the hunt for her and Javor eased up, she could never return home. She was young, about seventeen, and for the first time in her life, she felt completely and utterly alone.
It was during this time in her life that she met Aranthel. He was staying in a small backwater town in Sylinas, and fished her out of the river after Malik tossed her off a bridge. He summoned an illusion to make it look like she had died, helped heal her injuries, and let her lay low in his home. She was guarded, and the two never actually learned each other's names, but eventually felt she felt comfortable enough to give him a brief version of her story. After spending a couple of weeks in hiding to ensure she truly was safe, Aran took her back home.
The transition back into her life before the Conclave was made fairly easy by her brothers, and she enjoyed a long period of peace raising baby Javor and working with Arik in his new smithy.
And then their father's birthday came around. Since it was the first time in years they were able to celebrate together, so they decided to go into town together. By the time they were heading home, the streets were empty. A guard spotted them and, suspecting the three lone tieflings were up to no good, stopped them and tried to bring them in for questioning. The situation escalated as Rasmus refused, arguing they hadn't done anything wrong. The guard arrested Rasmus, and as he searched him felt the notebook Razz carried in his coat pocket. When he started to pull it out to show the guard what it was, the guard thought he was pulling a weapon, and fired his crossbow, killing him pretty much instantly.
Of all the losses Edana had suffered in her life, this was the one that shattered her. In an instant, the person who had cared for her in her childhood, who comforted her after her father's death, was taken before her eyes. For a long time, Edana retreated from the rest of the world. If it hadn’t been for Arik’s constant support and sympathy, she may not have survived her grief. Even now, eight years later, she’s still trying to pick up the pieces.
Eventually, she healed enough to re-emerge from herself, and used her Conclave to become a mercenary and provide for what remained of her family. As it turns out, having a giant, fire-breathing companion makes you a well sought after asset in such a risky business. As her reputation grew, the Conclave once again started snapping at her heels, and she resumed her nomadic life to prevent Arik from being caught in the crossfire. When the Council began looking for outside help to deal with the Litch-monarch, and they learned of Edana and her story, they reluctantly swallowed their pride and hired her for her skills.
Up For Love: She has a hard enough time making friends.
Other: Her time with the Conclave has left her touched by their darkness, but not consumed by it. She's terrified of the possibility of this shadow consuming her and goes out of her way to avoid situations where that might happen.
Edana holds a deep respect for dragons and the bonds they have with their riders and hates the Conclave for dishonoring that bond as well as putting those Dragons through so much pain.
Obviously, she prefers dragons to people.